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INDIANA  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY   PUBLICATIONS 
Vol  7.  No.  2 


Morgan's  Raid  in  Indiana 


BY 

LOUIS  B.  EWBANK 


INDIANAPOLIS 
C.    E.    PAULEY    &    COMPANY 


Morgan's  Raid  in  Indiana 

When  the  first  white  men,  explorers,  fur  traders  and  mis- 
sionaries, visited  the  district  now  called  Indiana,  they  found 
that  the  Indian  Tribes  who  had  lived  here,  had  been  driven 
to  the  West  by  the  Iroquois.  The  valleys  of  the  Wabash  and 
its  tributaries  were  doubtless  the  scenes  of  many  a  dark- 
tragedy  of  invasion,  battle  and  massacre  long  before  the 
dawn  of  written  history  in  that  region.  Under  French  pro- 
tection the  Tribes  returned  to  their  old  homes,  from  1712  to 
1720.  After  the  American  settlers  came,  the  Indians  fought 
with  them,  and  they  fought  with  each  other;  and  at  Laughery 
Creek,  Mississinewa,  Pigeon  Roost,  Tippecanoe,  and  else- 
where, the  unbroken  forests  of  Indiana  witnessed  deeds  of 
blood  called  War.  And  at  Vincennes  the  flag  of  Britain  was 
displaced  by  the  flag  of  the  Republic  by  an  act  of  War. 
From  time  to  time  Indiana  has  sent  her  sons  to  battle  beyond 
her  boundaries.  And  not  to  mention  the  Indian  warriors 
bred  on  her  soil  before  the  white  man  took  possession,  the 
rangers  who  went  to  the  Great  Lakes  and  Canada  in  the 
second  war  with  Great  Britain,  the  troops  who  served  in 
Mexico,  the  scores  of  regiments  that  marched  east  and  south 
in  the  war  of  the  Rebellion,  and  the  thousands  of  soldiers 
and  sailors  from  Indiana  who  have  maintained  the  honor  of 
our  country  on  sea  and  land,  afford  a  fruitful  theme  for  the 
writer  of  history  or  romance. 

But  the  battles  of  the  Indian  Wars  were  fought  in  the 
depths  of  a  wilderness,  before  Indiana  became  a  State,  and 
the  battles  beyond  her  borders  in  which  the  troops  of  Indiana 
have  taken  part  belong  to  the  local  history  of  other  States 


134  Morgan's  Raid  in   Indiana 

and  Countries.  Nearly  all  of  the  history  of  War  in  Indiana, 
so  far  as  it  relates  to  the  invasion  of  the  State  by  hostile 
troops,  can  be  told  by  reciting  the  events  which  occurred  in 
a  few  counties  of  Southern  Indiana  in  a  few  weeks — one 
might  almost  say  a  few  days — in  the  summer  of  1863,  when 
John  Morgan,  as  he  was  familiarly  known,  made  his  cele- 
brated dash  across  the   State. 

Border  warfare  by  the  inhabitants  on  either  side  of  the 
Ohio  river  had  been  known  even  before  organized  warfare 
began.  Not  long  before  Fort  Sumpter  was  fired  upon  a 
citizen  of  Indiana  who  was  accused  of  aiding  a  fugitive  slave 
to  escape  was  decoyed  to  New  Albany,  where  he  was  seized 
by  some  policemen  from  across  the  river,  taken  to  Louisville, 
and  placed  in  jail.  Upon  a  demand  being  made  for  his  re- 
lease he  was  spirited  away  to  Brandenburg,  forty  miles  down 
the  river.  Two  or  three  hundred  citizens  of  New  Albany 
organized  a  rescue,  armed  themselves,  and  started  for  Bran- 
denburg in  a  steamboat.  The  prisoner  was  carried  to  Eliza- 
bethtown,  thirty  miles  southeast  of  there,  before  the  steam- 
boat arrived.  But  upon  a  threat  to  burn  the  town  of  Bran- 
denburg unless  he  was  produced,  he  was  brought  back  from 
Elizabethtown,  and  surrendered.1 

And  a  year  before  Morgan's  invasion, — at  about  noon,  on 
July  18,  1862,  to  be  exact, — a  band  of  thirty  mauraders, 
under  the  command  of  Adam  P.  Johnson,  a  noted  Kentucky 
guerrilla  leader,  had  seized  a  ferry  boat  and  crossed  the  Ohio 
river  at  Newburg,  in  Warrick  county,  ten  or  twelve  miles 
east  of  Evansville  ,and  assumed  to  "capture"  the  town  in 
the  name  of  the  Confederacy.  These  maurauders  plundered 
the  houses  and  stores,  seized  whatever  arms  and  ammunition 
were  found,  and  paroled  in  the  name  of  the  Confederate  States 

*  Morgan  and  his  captors,  page  115. 


Morgan's  Raid  in   Indiana  135 

the  Union  soldiers,  to  the  number  of  seventy-five  or  eighty, 
that  they  found  in  the  hospital.  They  escaped  across  the 
river  into  Kentucky,  with  all  the  plunder  they  could  carry. 
The  only  casualties  were  the  deaths  of  two  residents  of  New- 
burg,  who  were  seen  in  consultation  with  the  raiders,  and 
were  killed  by  the  citizens  after  they  had  left,  on  suspicion 
of  having  invited  them  over.  The  answer  to  this  raid  was 
swift  and  terrible.  Two  days  afterward  ten  companies, 
organized  in  different  parts  of  the  State  and  officered  by  vol- 
unteer soldiers  at  home  on  leave  of  absence,  were  in  Evans- 
ville,  mustered  into  the  United  States  service  for  thirty  days. 
They  were  quickly  organized  as  the  Seventy-Sixth  Regiment 
of  Indiana  Volunteers,  and  were  sent  across  the  river  with 
orders  to  drive  out  the  Rebel  bands  from  Henderson  county 
and  three  adjoining  counties,  shooting  down  all  guerillas  in 
arms  and  all  making  resistance,  and  to  take  no  prisoners. 
Within  a  few  days  the  troops  reported  that  they  had  chased 
the  guerrillas  out  of  that  part  of  Kentucky.2 

The  next  invasion  of  Indiana  occurred  in  June  of  the  fol- 
lowing year.  General  John  H.  Morgan's  men,  collectively 
and  in  detached  bands,  had  become  famous  for  partisan  war- 
fare in  Kentucky  and  Tennessee,  raiding  towns,  holding  up 
and  robbing  trains,  destroying  railroad  property,  and  com- 
mitting deeds  of  violence  amounting  to  plain  highway  rob- 
bery, except  so  far  as  they  were  excused  by  a  state  of  war. 
Captain  Thomas  Hines,  of  the  Ninth  Kentucky  Cavalry,  was 
one  of  the  celebrated  guerrilla  leaders  in  Morgan's  band. 
Early  in  June,  1863,  he  obtained  permission  from  General 
Morgan  to  take  such  of  his  men  as  were  best  mounted,  and 
scout  north  of  the  Cumberland  river.3 

2  Smith's  History  of  Indiana,  pages  360,  361. 
Adjt.  Gen.  Terrell's  Report.  Vol.  1,  page  146. 
s  Morgan's  Cavalry,  pag*J  430. 


136  Morgan's  Raid  in   Indiana 

On  June  13th,  1863,  he  advanced  with  120  men  to  Eliza- 
bethtown,  Kentucky,  forty  miles  southwest  of  Louisville, 
where  he  plundered  the  citizens,  and  broke  open  the  safe  of 
the  Adams  Express  Company,  and  stole  the  contents.  He 
then  stopped  a  south  bound  freight  train  loaded  with  horses, 
and  after  taking  120  of  the  horses  set  fire  to  the  train  and 
fled.  His  company  was  pursued  by  Federal  troops,  and  part 
of  them  were  captured,  with  some  of  the  stolen  horses.4 

Finding  Kentucky  too  warm  for  him,  he  resolved  to  cross 
over  into  Indiana  and  "stir  up  the  copperheads,"  as  General 
Basil  Duke  expressed  it.5 

Two  days  after  the  raid  on  Elizabethtown,  sixty-four  of 
these  men6  reached  the  Ohio  river,  forty  miles  northwest  of 
Elizabethtown,  and  about  half  way  between  Louisville  and 
Evansville,  which  were  the  nearest  points  on  the  river  reached 
by  railroads  and  telegraph  lines.  At  five  o'clock  on  Thurs- 
day morning,  June  18,  they  crossed  on7  wood  boats  into 
Perry  county,  Indiana,  at  Flint  Island,  between  Rome  and 
Cannelton,8  swimming  their  horses  twenty  or  thirty  yards 
across  the  only  part  of  the  shallow  channel  which  the  horses 
could  not  wade.9  They  were  not  in  uniform,  but  were 
dressed  in  ordinary  clothes,  each  man  carrying  two  revolvers, 

4  Louisville  Journal,  June  15,  1863. 

New  Albany  Daily  Ledger,  June  14,  1863. 

s  Morgan's  Cavalry,  page  431. 

Madison  Courier,  June  25,  1863. 

New  Albany  Daily  Ledger,  June  22,  1863. 

6  New  Albany  Daily  Ledger,  June  22,  1863. 
Indianapolis  Journal,  June  23,  1863. 

7  New  Albany  Daily  Ledger,  June  22,  1863. 
s  Indianapolis  Journal,  June  23,  1863. 
Madison   Courier,   June  24,   1863. 
Smith's  History  of  Indiana,  page  373. 

9  New  Albany  Daily  Ledger,  June  19,  1863. 


Morgan's  Raid  in   Indiana  137 

while  they  also  carried  a  medley  of  muskets,  rifles  and  shot- 
guns.10 

They  rode  north  through  Perry  county  into  Orange  coun- 
ty, and  as  they  went  they  made  frequent  stops  to  exchange 
their  jaded  horses  for  fresh  ones,  pretending  that  they  were 
Union  troops  looking  for  deserters,  and  giving  pretended 
orders  on  the  United  States  quartermaster  at  Indianapolis  in 
payment  of  any  agreed  difference  in  price.11.  They  even 
went  so  far  as  to  arrest  two  deserters  who  were  pointed  out 
to  them,  and  compelled  the  prisoners  to  accompany  them  for 
several  miles.12  They  arrived  near  Orleans,  in  Orange 
county,  fifty  miles  north,  at  six  o'clock  that  evening.13  But 
having  become  an  object  of  suspicion  and  finding  that  the 
militia  were  gathering  to  oppose  them,  they  forcibly  seized 
the  horses  of  a  party  of  fourteen  militiamen.  Then,  turn- 
ing east  to  the  Washington  county  line,  and  meeting  a  man 
who  refused  to  give  up  his  horse,  they  knocked  him  to  the 
ground,  and  when  he  got  up  and  ran  they  shot  him  in  the 
back,  and  killed  him,14  after  which  they  fled  south.  It  was 
reported  that  they  wounded  three  of  the  militia  who  opposed 
them,15  but  later  reports  said  that  there  was  no  fighting.16 
They  reached  Hardinsburg,  in  the  edge  of  Washington  coun- 
ty, twenty  miles  southeast  of  Orleans,  the  next  morning  be- 

10  Indianapolis  Daily  Journal,  June  23,  1863. 

11  Smith's  History  of  Indiana,  page  372. 

12  Indianapolis  Journal.  June  23,  1863. 

13  New  Albany  Daily  Ledger,  June  19,  1863. 

14  New  Albany  Daily  Ledger,  June  19,  22,  1863. 
Madison  Courier,  June  24,  1863. 
Indianapolis  Daily  Journal,  June  23,  1863. 

is  Madison  Courier.  June  20,  1863. 

New  Albany  Daily  Ledger,  June  19,  1863. 

16  New  Albany  Daily  Ledger,  June  22,  1863. 


138  Morgan's  Raid  in   Indiana 

fore  daylight.     Seizing  more  horses,  they  rode  south  toward 
Leavenworth,   twenty-five   miles   away.17 

Coming  to  the  residence  of  Bryant  Breeden,  three  miles 
from  Leavenworth,  at  about  ten  o'clock  that  morning  (Fri- 
day) they  ordered  him  to  conduct  them  to  a  crossing,  men- 
tioning the  mouth  of  Blue  river,  above  Leavenworth.  He 
managed  to  send  his  boy  on  foot  to  Leavenworth  to  warn  the 
Home  Guards,  and  then  led  the  raiders  by  a  round  about 
way,  and  over  a  bluff  where  they  could  be  seen  from  Leaven- 
worth, across  a  shallow  bayou,  upon  an  island  between  Leav- 
enworth and  the  mouth  of  Blue  river,  which  was  separated 
from  the  Kentucky  shore  by  a  channel  too  deep  for  fording.18 
Here  the  militia  came  up  and  cut  off  their  retreat,  while  the 
steamer  Izetta,  which  had  chanced  to  be  at  Leavenworth  and 
had  there  taken  on  a  small  cannon  and  some  gunners,  steamed 
up  the  river  and  opened  fire  on  them.19  Three  of  the  guer- 
rillas were  killed,  one  wounded  and  two  drowned.20  Cap- 
tain Hines  escaped  across  the  river,  either  by  swimming21 
or  in  a  skiff.22  The  lieutenant  in  command  took  off  what 
was  said  to  be  the  only  white  shirt  in  the  rebel  company  and 
waived  it  in  token  of  surrender,  and  fifty-four  men  were 
taken  prisoners.23     The  captured  horsemen    were    found    to 

17  New  Albany  Daily  Ledger,  June  20,  1863. 
is  New  Albany  Daily  Ledger,  June  22,  1863. 
Madison   Courier,  June  24,  1863. 
Smith's  History  of  Indiana,  page  373. 

19  New  Albany  Daily  Ledger,  June  20,  1863. 
Smith's  History  of  Indiana,  page  373. 

20  New  Albany  Daily  Ledger,  June  20,  1863. 

21  Madison  Courier,  June  24.  1863: 

New  Albany  Daily  Ledger,  June  20,  1863. 

22  New  Albany  Daily  Ledger,  June  22,  1863. 

23  New  Albany  Daily  Ledger,  June  22,  1863. 
Madison  Courier,  June  24,  1863. 


Morgan's  Raid  in   Indiana  139 

have  considerable  quantities  of  calicoes,  besides  new  clothes, 
hats,  boots  and  shoes,  which  they  had  stolen  when  they  raided 
Elizabethtown.  And  when  the  bodies  of  the  two  drowned 
Rebels  were  recovered,  two  days  later,  $200  in  "green  backs" 
(U.  S.  treasury  notes)  was  found  in  the  pockets  of  one  and 
$480  in  the  pockets  of  the  other,  which  was  believed  to  be 
part  of  the  money  stolen  from  the  express  company  at  that 
place.  But  they  took  only  horses  while  in  Indiana,  and  paid 
with  greenbacks  for  all  the  food  and  forage  they  obtained.24 

The  prisoners  told  their  captors  that  a  rebel  force  of  fif- 
teen hundred  men  would  be  in  Indiana  within  the  next  ten 
days.25  And  Captain  Hines,  after  his  escape,  proceeded  to 
Brandenburg,  where  he  arrived,  alone,  on  the  very  day  that 
Morgan  reached  there,  and  was  made  second  in  command 
of  Morgan's  advance  guard,  and  rode  with  him  through  In- 
diana and  Ohio,  and  accompanied  Morgan  in  his  escape  from 
prison  and  in  his  flight  to  the  Confederate  lines  in  Tennes- 
see.26 

These  raiders  were  said  to  have  enquired  repeatedly  in 
Orange  county  for  Doctor  William  A.  Bowles,  who  had  been 
the  colonel  of  the  Second  Indiana  Regiment,  that  retreated 
at  Buena  Vista,  and  was  reputed  to  be  a  Southern  sympa- 
thizer,27 and  they  professed  disappointment  at  finding  that 
everybody  treated  them  as  enemies.  But  the  only  kindness 
which  was  shown  them  in  Indiana  was  by  a  citizen  of  New 
Amsterdam,  in  Harrison  county,  "who  was  found  treating 
some  of  the  rebel  prisoners,"  after  their  capture,  and  who 
was  accordingly  put  into  jail  with  them.28 

24  New  Albany  Daily  Ledger,  June  22,  1863. 

25  New  Albany  Daily  Ledger,  June  20,  1863. 

26  Morgan's  Cavalry,  pages  426,  431,  485,  490. 

27  Madison  Courier,  June  23.  24,  1863. 

28  New  Albany  Daily  Ledger,  June  22,  1863. 


140  Morgan's  Raid  in   Indiana 

The  next  and  last  invasion  of  Indiana  was  by  troops  un- 
der Morgan's  immediate  command  the  next  month.  With 
the  question  whether  General  Morgan's  raid  into  Indiana  was 
made  with  the  deliberate  intent  to  create  a  diversion  in  favor 
of  Bragg's  army,  or  in  the  hope  of  obtaining  recruits  in 
Southern  Indiana,  or  whether  he  was  forced  to  cross  the 
river  by  the  Union  troops  who  followed  him  northward  on 
his  way  toward  Louisville,  and  with  the  question  whether  he 
acted  with  the  full  knowledge  and  consent  of  his  commanding 
officers,  or  whether  he  disobeyed  orders  intentionally  or  from 
necessity,  we  have  nothing  to  do.  I  shall  not  undertake  to 
trace  his  movements  from  Tennessee  through  Kentucky  to 
the  Ohio  river,  nor  from  the  eastern  boundary  of  Indiana 
through  Ohio  to  the  place  where  he  was  captured.  I  write 
only  of  events  in  Indiana. 

We  have  seen  that  members  of  Captain  Hines'  company 
said  as  early  as  June  20th,  that  an  invading  army  was  com- 
ing.29 And  rumors  of  Morgan's  advance  through  Kentucky 
toward  Louisville  had  been  mentioned  in  the  New  Albany 
papers  as  early  as  July  3rd.  But  so  far  were  the  people  of 
Louisville  from  expecting  him  to  cross  the  river  that  the  next 
morning  after  his  advance  guard  reached  Brandenburg  both 
the  Louisville  Journal  and  the  Louisville  Democrat  stated 
that  Morgan  had  been  defeated  and  was  retreating. 

The  subject  of  this  raid  can  be  disposed  of  in  a  few  words, 
but  a  volume  would  scarcely  exhaust  it.  It  was  disposed  of 
by  Brigadier  General  James  M.  Shackelford,  who  commanded 
under  General  Hobson  in  the  pursuit  of  Morgan  and  his 
men,  in  a  few  terse  sentences  contained  in  his  report,  made 
August  1st,  1863,  less  than  three  weeks  after  the  event,30  as 
follows : 

29  New  Albany  Daily  Ledger,  June  20,  1863. 

30  Official  Records,  Series  1,  Volume  XXIII,  page  640. 


Morgan's  Raid  in   Indiana  141 

"When  we  came  within  two  miles  of  Brandenburg,  we  dis- 
covered the  smoke  rising  from  the  burning  transports  that 
had  set  the  enemy  across  the  river,  and  heard  his  shouts  of 
triumph.  We  were  twenty-four  hours  in  obtaining  transports 
and  crossing  the  river.  When  once  across  the  river,  the  pur- 
suit was  resumed.  We  pursued  him  through  the  State  of 
Indiana  to  Harrison,  Ohio.  At  Corydon,  and  other  points 
in  Indiana  the  enemy  was  met  by  the  militia.  The  kindness, 
hospitality,  and  patriotism  of  that  noble  state,  as  exhibited  on 
the  passage  of  the  Federal  forces,  was  sufficient  to  convince 
the  most  consummate  traitor  of  the  impossibility  of  severing 
this  great  Union.  Ohio  seemed  to  vie  with  her  sister  In- 
diana in  facilitatng  our  pursuit  after  the  great  Rebel  raider. 
In  each  of  these  two  great  states  our  troops  were  fed  and 
furnished  with  water  from  the  hands  of  men,  women  and 
children;  from  the  palace  and  hut  alike  we  shared  their 
hospitality.  .  .  .  Our  pursuit  was  much  retarded  by  the 
enemy's  burning  all  the  bridges  in  our  front.  He  had  every 
advantage.  His  system  of  horse  stealing  was  perfect.  He 
would  dispatch  men  from  the  head  of  each  regiment,  on  each 
side  of  the  road,  to  go  five  miles  into  the  country,  seizing 
every  horse  and  then  fall  in  at  the  rear  of  the  column.  In 
this  way  he  swept  the  country  for  ten  miles  of  all  the  horses. 
His  depredations  on  the  property  of  citizens,  his  reckless- 
ness of  the  rights  and  lives  of  the  people,  while  traveling  in 
these  states,  is  without  parallel  in  the  war.  In  order  to  ac- 
complish the  capture  of  Morgan  it  was  indispensable  that  my 
command  should  have  horses.  We  had  orders  to  press  the 
horses,  giving  receipts  for  them,  to  be  settled  by  the  govern- 
ment ;  yet,  in  many  instances,  horses  were  taken  when  it  was 
impossible  to  give  receipts  for  them  or  to  leave  with  the  own- 
ers any  evidence  of  indebtedness  on  the  part  of  the  government. 


142  Morgan's  Raid  in   Indiana 

In  many  other  instances  soldiers  not  authorized  to  take  horses, 
whose  horses  had  given  out,  yet,  anxious  to  continue  the  pur- 
suit, took  horses."  And  he  concluded  with  a  recommend?  • 
tion  that  commissioners  be  appointed  to  adjust  these  claims. 

The  official  report  of  Brigadier  General  Edward  Hobson, 
written  in  September,  1863,  Official  Records,  series  1,  volume 
XXIII,  pages  660,  661,  was  even  shorter.  Except  for  giving 
an  explanation  of  the  reason  why  he  camped  twelve  miles 
from  Brandenburg  on  the  night  that  Morgan  was  crossing 
the  river,  and  failed  to  reach  the  landing  until  after  the  ene- 
my's troops  had  crossed  over,  and  reciting  the  delay  in  pro- 
curing steamboats  from  Louisville  to  cross  the  river,  he  re- 
lates the  incidents  of  his  march  through  Indiana  as  follows : 

"In  the  evening  (of  July  9th)  transports  arrived  and  I 
succeeded  in  crossing  my  command  by  two  o'clock  Friday 
morning  the  tenth  instant.  At  daylight  I  followed  in  the 
direction  of  Corydon.  On  the  way  I  passed  the  ruins  of  a 
farm  house  and  flouring  mill  which  were  burned  by  the  rebels. 
Passing  Corydon  I  arrived  at  Salem  on  the  morning  of  Sat- 
urday, July  11th.  After  destroying  the  railroad  depot  and 
robbing  the  stores,  the  enemy  left,  moving  toward  Madison 
via  Lexington,  which  latter  place  my  advance  reached  about 
8  o'clock  in  the  evening.  Here  again  he  changed  his  course, 
moving  north  toward  Vernon.  Upon  a  consultation  with  the 
brigade  commanders  it  was  deemed  best  to  halt  for  the  night 
for  feed  and  rest.  The  enemy,  learning  of  the  Federal  force 
at  Vernon,  threatened  the  place  with  a  small  portion  of  his 
command,  while  the  balance  were  moving  on  Versailles.  On 
Sunday  I  moved  to  within  a  mile  of  Versailles,  and  halted 
to  feed.  From  Versailles  I  marched  to  Harrison,  on  the 
state  line  between  Indiana  and  Ohio  my  advance  arriving 
about  dark.     The  enemy  crossed  the  White  Water  river  at 


Morgan's  Raid  in   Indiana  143 

this  place,  burning  the  bridge,  about  an  hour  before  my  ad- 
vance arrived.  The  rear  of  my  command  did  not  arrive  until 
nearly  morning,  being  detained  in  getting  the  artillery  over 
the  hills  and  fording  the  river.  ...  I  take  this  opportun- 
ity to  return  my  thanks  to  (the  officers,  naming  some  of 
them).  And  to  the  enlisted  men  of  my  command  am  I  es- 
pecially under  obligation  for  their  untiring  energy  and  cheer- 
fulness during  a  long  and  tedious  march  of  over  800  miles, 
being  in  the  saddle  most  of  the  time  for  twenty-one  days  and 
nights,  deprived  of  sleep,  and  often  on  short  rations,  yet  they 
were  ever  eager  to  be  moving.  .  .  .  And  to  the  citizens 
of  Indiana  and  Ohio  who  so  generously  came  to  our  assist- 
ance, and  so  generously  provided  for  our  wants,  I  return  my 
thanks,  and  I  assure  them  they  will  ever  be  held  in  grateful 
remembrance  by  all  the  command." 

General  Morgan  and  his  officers  being  captured  and  im- 
prisoned, no  official  report  of  the  raid  was  made  to  the  Con- 
federate government.  But  three  years  later,  General  Basil 
W.  Duke  who  commanded  one  of  the  two  brigades  of  Mor- 
gan's troops,  wrote  a  history  of  Morgan's  cavalry  of  which 
some  half  dozen  pages  are  devoted  to  the  crossing  over  the 
Ohio  river  at  Brandenburg,  and  the  ride  through  Indiana 
to  the  Ohio  state  line,  with  a  liberal  admixture  of  comment. 
Omitting  the  comments,  and  the  recital  of  some  incidents 
which  I  shall  quote  hereafter,  his  story  of  the  raid  through 
Indiana  consists  of  a  mere  chronicle  of  daily  events,  as  fol- 
lows, quoting  his  language,  but  with  wide  ellipses : 

"It  was  nearly  dark  before  the  first  brigade  was  all 
across.  .  .  .  The  second  brigade  and  the  artillery  were  gotten 
across  by  midnight.  .  .  .  The  first  brigade  encamped  that 
night  about  six  miles  from  the  river.  .  .  .  On  the  next  day, 
the  ninth,  the  division  marched  at  an  early  hour,  the  second 


144  Morgan's  Raid  in   Indiana 

brigade  in  advance.  .  .  .  Passing  through  Corydon  we  took 
the  Salem  road  and  encamped  sixteen  or  eighteen  miles  from 
the  latter  place.  On  the  morning  of  the  tenth  we  set  out  for 
Salem.  ...  A  short  halt  was  made  in  Salem  to  feed  men  and 
horses,  and  during  that  time  several  railroad  bridges  were 
burned.  .  .  .  Leaving  Salem  at  one  or  two  o'clock  we 
marched  rapidly  and  steadily.  At  nightfall  we  reached  Vien- 
na, on  the  Indianapolis  and  Jeffersonville  railroad.  .  .  .  That 
night  we  went  into  camp  near  Lexington,  a  little  place  six  or 
seven  miles  from  Vienna.  General  Morgan  slept  in  the  town 
with  a  small  escort,  and  during  the  night  a  party  of  Federal 
cavalry  entered  the  town  and  advanced  as  far  as  the  house 
in  which  he  slept,  but  retired  as  suddenly  as  they  came.  We 
moved  at  an  early  hour  on  the  road  to  Paris.  Colonel  Smith 
was  detached  to  feint  against  Madison,  in  order  to  hold  there 
troops  who  might  prove  troublesome  if  they  came  out.  The 
division  moved  quietly  through  Paris,  and  in  the  afternoon 
arrived  in  sight  of  Vernon.  ...  A  strong  force  was  posted 
in  ernon,  .  .  .  (but)  the  General  was  able  to  carry  the 
division  around  the  place  to  the  Dupont  road.  .  .  .  We  en- 
camped that  night  at  12  m.  and  moved  next  morning  at  3. 
.  .  .  We  now  averaged  twenty-one  hours  in  the  saddle. 
Passing  through  Dupont  a  little  after  daylight  .  .  .  Colonel 
Grigsby  was  detached  with  his  regiment  to  press  on  and 
burn  the  bridges  near  Versailles.  .  .  .  Wherever  we  passed, 
bridges  and  depots,  water  tanks,  etc.,  were  burned  and  the 
railroads  torn  up,  but  I  know  of  but  one  private  dwelling  be- 
ing burned  upon  the  entire  raid,  and  we  were  fired  upon  from 
that  one.  .  .  .  Marching  steadily  all  day  and  the  greater  part 
of  the  next  night  we  reached  a  point  on  the  .  .  .  railroad, 
twenty-five  miles  from  Harrison,  called  Summansville  (Sun- 
man).     Here  twenty-five  hundred  militia  lay  loaded  into  box 


Morgan's  Raid  in   Indiana  145 

cars.  We  halted  to  rest,  and,  unconscious  of  our  presence, 
although  we  were  close  upon  them,  they  moved  off  in  the 
direction  of  Cincinnati.  Moving  at  5  a.  m.  we  reached  Harri- 
son by  one  o'clock  of  the  thirteenth.  .  .  .  After  two  or  three 
hours  halt  at  Harrison  the  division  moved  directly  toward 
Cincinnati."30* 

There  is  some  doubt  as  to  the  number  of  men  with 
which  Morgan  crossed  into  Indiana.  General  Basil  Duke 
said  that  he  started  from  Tennessee  with  twenty-four 
hundred  and  sixty  effective  men,31  and  that  his  effective 
strength  on  May  26th,  1863,  had  been  twenty-eight 
hundred.32  He  also  had  two  three-inch  Parrott  guns  and 
two  twelve-pound  howitzers,  and  the  men  required  to  serve 
them.  His  men  fought  two  or  three  encounters  on  their  wTay 
across  Kentucky,  in  one  of  which  (at  Columbia)  General 
Duke  says  they  lost  thirty-six  killed  and  about  twenty-five 
so  badly  wounded  that  they  could  not  ride,  and  he  adds  that 
five  companies  were  detached  and  sent  out  in  different  direc- 
tions on  special  service  before  Brandenburg  was  reached. 
But  they  were  riding  through  a  country  infested  with  guer- 
rilla bands,  many  of  whom  had  served  under  Morgan.  They 
captured  and  robbed  the  city  of  Lebanon,  and  plundered 
many  small  towns  and  farm  houses  on  their  way  to  the  river, 
and  a  share  of  the  plunder  was  attractive  to  the  other  bands 
at  large  in  Kentucky.  And  the  captain  of  the  steamer  J.  T. 
McComb,  after  spending  a  day  and  a  night  in  helping  to  ferry 
the  force  across  the  river,  carried  into  Louisville  the  report 
that  by  actual  count  4,800  men,  5,000  horses,  two  six-pound 
cannon  and  two  twelve-pounders  had  crossed  to  the  Indiana 

30a  Morgan's  Cavalry,  pages  434  to  440. 

•r;1  Morgan's  Cavalry,  page  415. 

32  Morgan's  Cavalry,  page  404. 

Indiana  Magazine  of  History,  Vol.  S  (1912),  page  151. 


146  Morgan's  Raid  in   Indiana 

side.33  Morgan's  force  was  variously  estimated  at  from  3,000 
to  11,000  by  persons  who  encountered  it  or  saw  it  pass.  But 
the  number  of  horsemen  was  probably  not  far  from  3,000, 
with  a  battery  of  four  small  cannon.34 

In  order  to  understand  the  route  followed  by  Morgan 
through  Indiana  one  should  remember  that  the  general  course 
of  the  Ohio  river  from  the  Ohio  state  line  to  Madison,  after 
making  due  allowance  for  its  many  windings,  is  almost  due 
southwest,  the  first  twenty-five  miles  running  almost  south, 
after  which  it  curves  westward ;  and  that  from  Madison  to 
JerTersonville  the  river  runs  south  thirty-five  miles  in  going 
a  little  more  than  twenty-five  miles  west,  and  from  New 
Albany  to  the  mouth  of  Salt  river,  a  distance  of  twenty-five 
miles,  the  river  runs  nearly  due  south,  after  which  it  curves 
toward  the  west  and  northwest  some  fifteen  miles  to  Branden- 
burg. And  that  Brandenburg  is  more  than  seventy-five  miles 
south  of  a  line  drawn  west  from  Lawrenceburg.  Therefore, 
at  any  point  reached  by  Morgan  and  his  men  the  Ohio  river 
lay  east  of  them,  until  they  had  ridden  northward  more  than 
seventy-five  miles,  and  until  they  were  many  miles  north 
of  a  line  drawn  east  and  west  through  North  Vernon,  Sey- 
mour and  Rising  Sun.  The  southern  border  of  Indiana  is 
not  an  east  and  west  line,  though  we  often  fail  to  realize 
that  Seymour  and  North  Vernon,  fifty  miles  north  of  Louis- 
ville, are  farther  south  than  Lawrenceburg  and  Aurora  ;  and 
that  Corydon  is  several  miles  south  of  a  line  drawn  west 
from  New  Albany,  and  the  river  towns  along  the  southern 
border  of  Harrison  county  are  twenty  miles  farther  south 
than  Louisville.     Because  of  these   facts,  when   Morgan  and 

33  Louisville  Democrat,  July  9.  1863. 
Madison  Courier.  July  11,  1863. 

34  Official  Records,  Series  1,  Vol.  XXIII,  page  711. 

Indiana  Magazine  of  History,  Vol.  8   (1912),  pages  151,  152. 


Morgan's  Raid  in   Indiana  147 

his  men  had  ridden  forty  miles  north  from  Brandenburg,  to 
Salem,  the  Ohio  river  was  only  thirty-five  miles  away  toward 
the  east,  and  hardly  two-thirds  as  far  away  toward  the 
southeast,  at  Grassy  Flats,  above  Jeffersonville,  where  it  was 
believed  that  Morgan  intended  to  re-cross  the  river,  and 
where  some  of  his  followers  were  killed  and  captured  in 
attempting  to  cross  from  the  Kentucky  side  to  join  him. 

The  small  parties  sent  out  from  Morgan's  army,  collect- 
ing horses  and  plunder,  scoured  the  roads  in  all  directions, 
north,  east,  south  and  west,  thus  giving  rise  to  erroneous  re- 
ports of  the  direction  in  which  the  main  body  was  moving. 
But  the  general  course  followed  by  Morgan  and  his  army 
was  to  the  north  and  east,  almost  parallel  with  the  Ohio  river. 
From  where  he  crossed  the  river  to  Corydon,  and  for  more 
than  ten  miles  north  of  there,  the  road  which  Morgan  fol- 
lowed was  all  the  time  within  fifteen  miles  of  the  Ohio  river, 
although  he  was  travelling  nearly  due  north.  He  continued 
north  twenty  miles  farther,  through  Palmyra  to  Salem,  send- 
ing one  column  through  Greenville,  five  miles  east  of  Palmyra. 
From  Salem  one  column  rode  directly  east,  through  Canton, 
New  Philadelphia  and  Centerville,  crossing  the  Indianapolis 
and  Jeffersonville  railroad  at  Vienna,  while  the  other  column 
rode  southeast  through  Harristown  to  Memphis,  twelve  miles 
south  of  Vienna,  and  still  other  companies  crossed  the  rail- 
road at  Henryville,  all  of  the  different  columns  coming  to- 
gether at  Lexington,  thirty  miles  east  of  Salem,  on  the  rail- 
road which  runs  from  Jeffersonville  to  Greensburg.  At  Lex- 
ington they  were  only  twelve  miles  from  the  Ohio  river 
directly  east  of  there,  and  less  than  twenty  miles  from  Madi- 
son. Here  the  raiders  turned  to  follow  the  railroad  north, 
through  Hinesville  and  Paris,  toward  Vernon,  and  some  of 
the  advance  guards  proceeded  as  far  as  the  Vernon  Fork  of 


148  Morgan's  Raid  in   Indiana 

the  Muskackatuk  river,  and  challenged  the  Home  Guards  to 
surrender  the  town  of  Vernon.  But  the  main  body  of  the 
troops  turned  east  through  Dupont,  fifteen  miles  northwest  of 
Madison  on  the  Madison  and  Indianapolis  railroad.  Some 
of  the  troops  went  in  the  direction  of  Madison  almost  to 
Kent,  ten  miles  west  of  there,  but  turned  back  and  rejoined 
the  main  body.  From  Dupont  to  Versailles  the  general  direc- 
tion was  northeast.  But  I  have  found  no  record  of  any  towns 
or  villages  visited,  in  the  twenty-five  miles  between  Dupont 
and  Versailles,  except  that  some  of  the  troops  passed  through 
Bryansburg,  seven  or  eight  miles  east  of  Dupont.35 

The  scouts  and  outriders  were  reported  as  far  south  as 
Cross  Plains,  Friendship,  Elrod  and  Moores  Hill,  and  as  far 
north  as  Osgood  and  Napoleon.  And  since  Osgood  is  fifteen 
miles  north  of  Cross  Plains,  and  Napoleon  is  fifteen  miles 
northwest  of  Moores  Hill,  it  is  fair  to  assume  that  different 
columns  of  the  troops  took  parallel  roads  and  that  smaller 
parties  followed  widely  diverging  roads.  The  main  columns 
crossed  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  railroad  at  Pierceville, 
Milan  and  Moores  Hill,  tearing  up  the  tracks.36  The  entire 
body  of  troops  came  together  near  Sunman,  about  twenty 
miles  northwest  of  Lawrenceburg  on  the  Indianapolis  and 
Cincinnati  railroad,  and,  crossing  the  railroad  at  Weisburg 
and  between  that  station  and  Sunman,37  destroying  it  as  they 
crossed,  they  rode  directly  east  along  the  ridge  which  divides 
the  creeks  flowing  into  the  Ohio  river  at  Lawrenceburg  from 
the  small  streams  which  flow  into  the  White  Water.  The 
way  led  through  Hubbell's  Corners,  New  Alsace,  Kelso,  or 
Dover   as   it   was   then   called,   and   Logan,   to   the   long  hill 

35  Morgan  and  his  captors,  page  144. 

so  Morgan  and  his  captors,  page  144. 

S"  History  of  Dearborn  and  Ohio  Counties  (Ind.),  page  222. 


Morgan's  Raid  in   Indiana  149 

leading  down  into  the  White  Water  valley  at  Harrison,  where 
they  crossed  the  White  Water  river  and  passed  over  into 
the  state  of  Ohio.'iS  The  distance  from  where  they  entered 
the  State  of  Indiana  at  Mauckport  to  where  they  left  it  and 
crossed  into  Ohio,  at  Harrison,  is  about  120  miles  in  an  air 
line,  as  a  carrier  pigeon  or  an  airplane  might  traverse  it.  An 
air  line  would  cross  the  Ohio  river  into  Kentucky  ten  miles 
below  Madison  and  would  re-cross  the  river  into  Indiana  at 
Madison.  But  the  roads  followed  by  Morgan  and  his  men 
wound  in  and  out  along  the  valleys  of  streams  and  upon  the 
ridges  which  mark  the  watershed  between  winding  creeks, 
never  keeping  the  same  course  more  than  a  few  rods  at  a 
time.  So  that  the  men  in  the  main  column  probably  rode 
not  less  than  200  miles  on  Indiana  soil,  an  average  of  forty 
miles  a  day,39  while  the  distance  covered  by  the  scouts  and 
outriders  was  probably  twice  as  far.  The  two  columns  in 
which  the  army  moved  were  sometimes  ten  or  twelve  miles 
apart,  while  small  parties  swarmed  over  the  roads  for  sev- 
eral miles  on  either  side,  and  scores  of  villages  and  hamlets, 
and  hundreds  of  farm  houses  were  visited  by  the  Confed- 
erates. But  the  written  history  of  the  raid,  so  far  as  I  have 
been  able  to  find,  mentions  only  the  towns  which  I  have 
named ;  and  the  traditions  known  to  me  without  the  aid  of 
written  chronicle  relate  only  to  the  last  day  of  the  raid  and 
the  last  twenty  miles  of  the  course  followed  by  the  raiders  in 
Indiana. 

The  country  through  which  Morgan  and  his  troopers 
passed  was  then  almost  as  thickly  settled  as  it  is  now.  Some 
of  the  towns  and  cities  they  passed  through  have  grown  a 

3$  Morgan  and  his  captors,  page  144. 

History  of  Dearborn  and  Ohio  Counties  (Ind.),  page  222. 

39  Morgan  and  His  Captors,  page  145. 


150  Morgan's  Raid  in   Indiana 

little,  and  cities  not  far  from  their  line  of  march  have  sprung 
into  existence  since  then.  But  after  the  first  two  days  Mor- 
gan avoided  the  towns  and  the  trunk  roads  and  even  from 
the  first  probably  no  place  in  Indiana  that  he  visited  had  a 
thousand  inhabitants.  And  so  little  have  the  villages  and 
farms  changed  since  then  that  it  is  doubtful  whether  a  trav- 
eller following  along  the  highways  over  which  the  raiders 
passed  from  Mauckport  to  Harrison  would  pass  the  homes  of 
many  more  people  how  than  they  passed  then.  There  has 
been  a  change,  however,  which  makes  it  almost  impossible 
for  us  to  realize  the  conditions  at  that  time.  The  first  auto- 
mobile was  then  thirty  years  in  the  future.  Today  a  car  of 
some  kind,  propelled  by  gasoline,  is  owned  on  almost  every 
farm,  and  dozens  of  them  in  every  small  town.  The  fastest 
method  of  communication  between  places  not  reached  by 
railroads  or  telegraph  lines  then  known  was  by  riding  on 
horseback.  None  of  the  turnpikes  and  stone  roads  which 
now  thread  southern  Indiana  had  then  been  built.  The  tele- 
phones which  now  spread  a  net  work  over  the  country  and 
connect  every  farm  house  with  all  the  other  farm  houses  in 
the  community  and  with  the  surrounding  towns  had  not  yet 
been  invented.  Instead  of  the  maze  of  telegraph  wires  which 
now  radiate  in  every  direction  from  every  town  the  only  tele- 
graph lines  consisted  of  two  or  three  wires  along  each  rail- 
road, used  chiefly  for  operating  trains.  The  associated  press 
was  not  in  existence,  and  telegraph  dispatches  printed  in  the 
newspapers  seldom  consisted  of  more  than  two  or  three  lines. 
Even  the  issue  of  the  Indianapolis  Journal  which  printed  the 
Governor's  Proclamation  commanding  everybody  in  the  south 
half  of  the  State  to  arm  and  repel  the  invaders  carried  only 
half  a  dozen  lines  of  telegraphic  news  on  the  subject  of  the 
raid,  saying  only  that  the  rebels  had  crossed  the  river  at 
Brandenburg,   and   were    moving   northward.     And   most   of 


Morgan's  Raid  in   Indiana  151 

the  accounts  of  Morgan's  movements  which  the  Journal 
printed  afterward  were  copied  from  the  New  Albany  papers 
or  were  sent  by  mail  from  local  correspondents.  There  was 
no  telegraph  line  along  the  river,  and  while  Morgan's  ad- 
vance  guard  reached  Brandenburg  on  Tuesday,  July  7th,  and 
captured  the  steamer  J.  T.  McComb  at  two  o'clock  the  next 
morning  and  the  Alice  Dean  soon  afterward,  and  spent  Wed- 
nesday in  crossing  the  river,  nothing  was  known  of  their 
presence  at  Louisville,  forty  miles  up  the  river,  until  Thurs- 
day afternoon,  when  the  steamer,  J.  T.  McComb,  having 
helped  to  ferry  the  invaders  across  the  river  and  then  been 
sent  up  the  river  by  General  Hobson  for  transports  and  sup- 
plies, got  back  to  her  wharf.  And  when  the  raiders  had 
burned  the  bridges  and  cut  the  telegraph  wires  on  the  three 
railroads  leading  north  from  New  Albany  and  Jeffersonville, 
the  newspapers  of  those  cities  confessed  that  they  were  cut 
of!  from  the  outside  world,  and  ceased  to  print  any  telegraph 
dispatches  until  the  damage  had  been  repaired.40 

The  line  of  railroad  now  operated  by  the  Big  Four  Com- 
pany between  Indianapolis  and  Cincinnati  then  reached  only 
to  Lawrenceburg.  And  while  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  rail- 
road had  a  track  west  from  Cincinnati  through  Lawrenceburg, 
North  Vernon,  Seymour  and  Mitchell,  it  was  of  a  wider 
gauge  than  the  north  and  south  railroads  which  it  crossed  at 
the  points  named,  so  that  cars  could  not  be  transferred  from 
one  railroad  to  the  other.  Though  a  few  Indianapolis 
trains  were  run  between  Lawrenceburg  and  Cincinnati,  using  a 
second  rail  spiked  inside  the  rail  on  the  broader  gauge  rail- 
road. And  the  rails  of  the  single  track  roads  then  in  use 
were  so  light,  the  tracks  so  poorly  constructed,  and  the  cars 
and  locomotives  so  small,  that  they  would  seem  like  toys 
beside  the  double  tracks,  ballasted  with  stone,  and  the  heavy 

40  New  Albany  Daily  Ledger,  July  13,  1863. 


152  Morgan's  Raid  in   Indiana 

rails  and  monster  engines  and  cars  in  use  today.  All  the 
trains  were  local  trains  and  only  two  or  three  a  day  were  run 
in  each  direction,  at  less  than  half  the  speed  that  trains  are 
run  now.  I  have  played  in  a  barn  built  right  against  the  main 
track  of  the  railroad  which  runs  from  Indianapolis  to  Cin- 
cinnati, so  that  hay  could  be  loaded  from  its  mows  directly 
into  cars  left  standing  on  the  main  track  until  the  next  train 
should  come  along  to  haul  them  away,  and  cars  were  so  load- 
ed in  the  year  1863.  The  country  was  covered  with  forests, 
patches  being  cleared  for  cultivation  on  each  farm.  And 
where  eighty,  a  hundred,  or  a  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of 
farm  land  now  surround  a  dwelling,  ten,  twenty  or  forty  acres 
were  then  under  cultivation,  and  the  rest  of  the  farm  was 
in  timber.  So  that  when  the  rebels  had  cut  a  railroad  and 
telegraph  line  and  passed  on,  the  forest  seemed  to  swallow 
them  up  and  all  was  mystery  until  they  emerged  at  some  other 
point  on  the  railroad  which  could  be  reached  by  telegraph. 

But  to  proceed  with  the  story.  After  riding  many  miles 
through  Tennessee  and  across  Kentucky,  a  detachment  of 
about  two  hundred  men  sent  forward  by  General  Morgan 
rode  into  Brandenburg,  Kentucky,  on  the  evening  of  Tuesday, 
July  7th,  1863,  while  the  rest  of  the  command  encamped  at 
Salt  River,  several  miles  away.  They  were  in  plain  clothes 
and  concealed  their  identity  until  the  steamer  J.  T.  McComb 
landed  at  the  wharf  about  two  o'clock  in  the  morning.41 

The  Louisville  Journal,  on  Thursday,  giving  the  report  of 
the  affair  as  it  was  carried  up  the  river  after  the  Confed- 
erates had  gone,  said  of  the  capture  of  the  steamer: 

"The  rebels  boarded  her,  took  her  out  into  the  middle  of 
the  river  and  anchoring  her  there,  put  up  signals  of  distress. 
They  then  commenced  their  chivalrous  and  noble  deeds,  rob- 
bing the  passengers  and  mails."42 

4i  New  Albany  Daily  Ledger,  July  9,  1863. 

42  But  see  Morgan  and  His  Captors,  page  116,  which  says  the 

eapture  was  in  the  afternoon. 


Morgan's  Raid  in   Indiana  153 

While  they  were  thus  engaged  the  steamer  Alice  Dean 
came  in  sight  from  below,  and  observing  the  signals  of  dis- 
tress, went  to  the  relief  of  the  captured  boat.  She  was  also 
captured,  and  according  to  the  Louisville  Journal  the  passen- 
gers were  robbed  and  the  boat  plundered,  all  money  and 
silverware  being  taken.43  Some  citizens  of  Brandenburg 
crossed  the  river  to  Mauckport,  two  miles  below,  with  the 
news  of  what  was  being  done,  and  the  Union  commander 
there  hailed  a  passing  steamboat  and  sent  it  back  to  Leaven- 
worth for  a  six-pounder  gun  and  assistance,  and  also  sent 
to  Corydon  for  reinforcements.  At  daylight  this  gun  opened 
fire  on  the  steamboats  which  the  Confederates  had  captured, 
aiming  at  their  boilers  to  disable  them.  But  the  rebel  bat- 
teries in  Brandenburg  drove  the  Home  Guards  from  the 
river  bank.44  The  main  body  of  Morgan's  men  reached  the 
river  about  ten  o'clock  Wednesday  morning,  and  prepared  to 
cross.  Some  resistance  was  offered  by  the  Home  Guards,  but 
under  cover  of  artillery  fire  the  first  brigade  was  carried 
across  and  drove  the  Home  Guards  away,  capturing  their 
cannon.45 

The  steamer  Grey  Eagle,  down  bound  from  Louisville, 
-had  been  intercepted  at  a  landing  farther  up  the  river  by  the 
news  of  what  was  passing  at  Brandenburg,  and  had  returned 
to  the  mouth  of  Salt  river,  and  a  gunboat  that  had  been  sent 
down  from  there  now  appeared  up  the  river.  It  would  seem 
that  her  most  effective  mode  of  fighting  would  be  to  fire  upon 

43  Louisville  Journal,  July  9,  1863. 
Madison  Courier,  July  10,  1863. 
Morgan  and  His  Captors,  page  116. 

44  Morgan  and  His  Captors,  pages  117,  118. 

45  Smith's  History  of  Indiana,  page  374. 


154  Morgan's  Raid  in   Indiana 

and  sink  or  damage  the  two  wooden  steamboats,  which  alone 
afforded  means  of  setting  the  second  brigade  and  the  horses 
across  the  river  into  Indiana,  or  of  bringing  back  the  brigade 
which  had  already  crossed.  But  the  steamboats  were  not 
harmed,  and  after  a  short  artillery  duel  which  proved  that  the 
rebel  guns  were  of  heavier  caliber  and  longer  range  than  her 
own,  the  gunboat  steamed  back  to  the  mouth  of  Salt  river, 
where  West  Point  is  now  located.46 

The  first  brigade  and  their  horses  were  across  the  river 
by  dark,47  and  they  immediately  began  to  plunder  the  citi- 
zens. "At  Mauckport,"  said  the  New  Albany  Ledger,  pub- 
lished two  days  later,  "the  houses  of  citizens  were  entered 
and  the  furniture  broken,  bed  clothing  and  carpets  torn  to 
tatters  and  mirrors  smashed,  and  a  species  of  land  piracy  car- 
ried out  which  would  have  disgusted  even  the  West  India 
buccaneers  of  the  era  of  Lafitte."  At  about  dark  the  steam- 
boat which  had  carried  to  Salt  river  the  news  of  the  invasion 
returned  with  a  small  force  of  infantry  and  a  section  of  a 
battery  of  artillery,  and  exchanged  a  number  of  shots  with 
the  enemy,  but  was  driven  off  by  the  superior  range  of  the 
Confederate  guns.48 

At  about  seven  in  the  evening,  Gen.  Hobson,  in  command 
of  the  Union  troops  of  which  General  Shackelford  command- 
ed a  brigade,  approaching  from  the  southeast,  learned  that 
Morgan  had  captured  two  boats  and  was  crossing  into  In- 
diana.    He  also  received  the  erroneous  information  that  the 

46  Morgan's  Cavalry,  pages  430,  434. 

Official  Records,  Series  1,  Vol.  XXVIII,  pages  659,  717. 
New  Albany  Daily  Ledger,  July  9,  1863. 

47  Morgan's  Cavalry,  page  434. 

48  New  Albany  Daily  Ledger,  July  9,  1863. 
Adjt.  Gen.  Terrell's  Report,  Vol.  I,  page  165. 
Morgan's  Cavalry,  page  434. 


Morgan's  Raid  in   Indiana  155 

gunboat  and  transport  with  troops  which  had  come  down  the 
river  were  at  Rock  Haven,  a  village  at  the  southernmost  bend 
of  the  Ohio  river  as  it  sweeps  in  a  long  curve  around  Harri- 
son county,  being  about  ten  miles  up  the  river  toward  the 
southeast  from  Brandenburg.  Halting  his  troops  near  Gar- 
nettsville,  twelve  miles  from  Brandenburg,  where  a  road 
branching  off  to  the  right  led  down  to  Rock  Haven,  only 
three  miles  away,  he  rode  over  to  learn  if  the  co-operation 
of  the  gunboat  could  be  obtained  for  a  night  attack.  But 
finding  that  the  boats  had  gone  to  the  mouth  of  Salt  river, 
ten  miles  or  more  up  the  river,  and  having  no  means  of  com- 
municating with  them,  he  returned  to  his  command.  The 
night  being  very  dark  and  the  troops  very  much  fatigued,  and 
Brandenburg  being  deemed  capable  of  defense  by  a  small 
force  against  vastly  superior  numbers,  it  was  not  thought  pru- 
dent to  undertake  a  night  attack  with  his  force  alone.49 

At  nine  o'clock  cannonading  at  the  river  was  heard.50 
Moving  forward  at  an  early  hour  in  the  morning,  the  Union 
troops  entered  Brandenburg  at  seven  o'clock.51 

Morgan's  second  brigade  and  his  artillery  had  all  crossed 
the  river  by  midnight.52  But  the  rebels  seem  to  have  been 
ignorant  at  this  time  that  they  were  closely  followed  by  Union 
troops  or  they  would  probably  have  destroyed  both  of  the 
steamers  on  which  they  crossed.  They  set  fire  to  the  Alice 
Dean  and  burned  it  and  the  wharf-boat,  amid  great  cheering, 
which  was  heard  by  the  approaching  Union  troops,  who  also 
saw  the  smoke  from  the  hilltop  two  miles  away.53     General 

49  Official  Reports,  Series  1,  Vol.  XXIII,  page  659. 

so  Official  Reports,  Series  1,  Vol.  XXIII,  page  707. 

51  Official  Reports,  Series  1,  Vol.  XXIII,  page  659. 

r>2  Morgan's  Cavalry,  page  434. 

53  Louisville  Democrat,  July  10,  1863. 

Madison  Courier,  July  11,  1863. 

Official  Records,  Series  1,  Vol.  XXIII,  page  640. 


156  Morgan's  Raid  in  Indiana 

Duke  said  that  the  boat  they  burned  was  "in  Government 
employ."54  The  other  boat,  the  J.  T.  McComb,  was  released 
by  the  rebels,  and  was  sent  to  Louisville  for  transports,  by 
General  Hobson,  immediately  on  his  arrival,55  reaching  there 
at  two  o'clock  on  the  afternoon  of  Thursday,  July  9th.56 
The  captain's  story  was  that  he  saved  his  boat  through  the 
earnest  intervention  of  Morgan's  brigade  commanders,  Basil 
Duke  and  Bushrod  Johnson,  who  had  formerly  been  warm 
friends  of  his.57 

This  was  the  first  intimation  that  the  people  of  Louisville 
and  the  outside  world  had  of  what  was  passing  at  Branden- 
burg and  in  Harrison  county.  As  was  stated  above,  the 
Louisville  Journal  and  Louisville  Democrat  had  both  printed 
dispatches  the  day  before  saying  that  Morgan's  band  had 
been  defeated  and  was  retreating,58  which  had  been  copied 
by  the  New  Albany  Daily  Ledger  that  very  morning.59  Im- 
mediately upon  the  arrival  of  the  steamboat  the  news  was 
telegraphed  to  the  military  authorities60  and  to  Governor 
Morton.  The  commanding  general  at  once  telegraphed  or- 
ders to  General  Boyle,  in  command  at  Louisville,  to  "arm  the 
Indiana  Legion,  Home  Guards  and,  in  fact,  every  fighting 
man  you  can  find,"  in  expectation  of  an  attack  on  that  city.61 

54  Morgan's  Cavalry,  page  434. 

55  Official  Records,  Series  1,  Vol.  XXIII,  page  659. 
50  New  Albany  Daily  Ledger,  July  9,  1863. 
Louisville  Democrat,  July  9,  1863. 

Madison  Courier  July  10,  11,  1863. 

57  See  authorities  just  cited. 

58  See  issues  of  July  8,  1863. 

59  New  Albany  Daily  Ledger,  July  9,  1863. 

eo  Official  Reports,  Series  1,  Vol.  XXIII,  pages  705,  706,  711. 
Report  of  Brigadier  General  Boyle,  July  9,  1863. 
oi  Official  Records,  Series  1,  Vol.  XXIII,  page  705. 


Morgan's  Raid  in   Indiana  157 

The  telegram  to  Governor  Morton  reached  Indianapolis  a 
little  before  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon.  An  organization 
of  loyal  citizens  throughout  the  state  had  been  effected  a  short 
time  before  for  purposes  of  defense  which  was  known  as  the 
Indiana  Legion.  On  paper  its  members  numbered  several 
thousand  men,  but  they  were  unmounted,  and  many  of  them 
were  unarmed;62  and  the  occasion  called  for  a  rally  of  all 
the  citizens,  and  especially  those  who  had  horses  to  follow 
Morgan's  rapid  movements.  Therefore  Governor  Morton 
immediately  issued  a  proclamation  calling  all  of  the  people  to 
arms.  It  recited  the  fact  of  the  invasion  and  that  therefore 
''it  is  hereby  ordered  and  required  that  all  able-bodied  white 
male  citizens  of  the  several  counties  south  of  the  National 
road  forthwith  form  themselves  into  companies  of  at  least 
60  persons,  elect  officers  and  arm  themselves  with  such  arms 
as  they  may  be  able  to  procure.  Said  companies  will  perfect 
themselves  in  military  drill  as  rapidly  as  possible  and  hold 
themselves  subject  to  further  orders  from  this  department. 
It  is  desired  that  they  shall  be  mounted  in  all  cases  where 
it  is  possible."62  With  this  proclamation  was  posted  in  all 
the  towns  in  the  southern  part  of  the  state  military  orders 
requiring  all  soldiers  on  leave  of  absence  and  all  convalescents 
to  report  immediately  for  duty,  taking  over  all  the  railroads 
and  telegraph  lines  for  military  purposes,  and  proclaiming 
"that  all  places  of  business  except  the  printing  offices,  tele- 
graph office,  postoffice,  drugstores  and  livery  stables  should  be 
closed  at  three  o'clock,  until  further  orders,  to  give  the  citi- 
es Smith's  History  of  Indiana,  page  375. 
63  Indianapolis  Journal,  July  10,  1863. 
Madison  Courier,  July  11,  1863. 
Adjt.  Gen.  Terrell's  Report,  Vol.  I,  pages  165,  176. 


158  Morgan's  Raid  in   Indiana 

zens  an  opportunity  to  meet  in  their  respective  wards,  and 
effect  a  thorough  military  organization."64 

It  will  be  observed  that  even  in  Indianapolis  there  was 
only  one  telegraph  office  at  that  time.  Indianapolis  was  then 
a  town  with  but  little  more  than  twenty  thousand  inhabitants 
whose  residences  covered  only  a  small  part  of  what  is  now 
the  downtown  district.  Bells  were  immediately  rung  and 
whistles  blown,  and  before  dark  that  night  twelve  companies 
of  Home  Guards  had  been  organized.  Eight  more  companies 
were  formed  in  the  next  few  days.  There  was  much  drilling, 
and  several  times  the  companies  were  marched  down  to  the 
train,  but  few,  if  any,  of  them  were  sent  out  of  the  county,65 
though  a  few  companies  of  men  from  other  parts  of  the  state 
who  came  to  Indianapolis,  were  sent  to  North  Vernon66  and 
Sunman.67  On  Sunday  afternoon,  about  the  time  that  Mor- 
gan's advance  reached  Versailles,  the  fire  bells  at  Indianapolis 
were  sounded,  and  in  forty-five  minutes  all  troops  in  the  city 
were  in  line.  Five  regiments  slept  in  the  state  house  yard 
that  night.68  And  what  was  done  at  Indianapolis  was  done 
in  forty  other  counties  in  the  southern  half  of  the  state.  The 
companies  of  the  Legion  were  first  in  the  field,  but  within  a 
few  hours  the  muster  was  universal.  By  noon  of  the  second 
day  fifteen  thousand  militia  men  had  reported  to  the  Governor 

64  See  newspapers  of  July  9,  10,  11,  1863. 
Madison  Courier,  July  10,  1863. 

65  Dunn's   History   of   Indianapolis,   page  232,   quoting  reminis- 
cences of  John  H.  Holliday. 

<>6  History  of  Dearborn  and  Ohio  Counties  (Ind.),  page  220. 
Ad.it.  Gen.  Terrell's  Report  Vol.  I,  pages  165,  189. 

67  New  Albany  Daily  Ledger,  July  14,  1863. 

68  Indianapolis  Sentinel,  July  13,  1863. 
New  Albany  Daily  Ledger,  July  14,  1863. 
Dunn's  History  of  Indianapolis,  page  232. 


Morgan's  Raid  in   Indiana  159 

that  they  were  organized  and  ready  for  service,  and  the  num- 
ber was  swelled  to  sixty-five  thousand  by  the  time  Morgan's 
men  left  the  state.  The  generals  commanding  the  Union 
troops  in  that  part  of  the  country  ably  co-operated.  Troops 
were  ordered  from  Michigan,  ammunition  from  Washington, 
and  gunboats  were  ordered  to  patrol  the  Ohio  river.69 

In  the  meantime  the  invaders  had  plundered  the  citizens 
of  Mauckport,  killed  five  of  the  Harrison  county  Home 
Guards  who  resisted  their  advance  at  a  point  about  two  miles 
from  the  river,  and  started  back  into  the  interior.  The  first 
brigade,  which  crossed  on  Wednesday  afternoon,  burned  a 
flouring  mill  owned  by  Peter  Lapp,  about  three  miles  from 
the  river,70  and  then  went  into  camp  three  miles  farther  on.71 
The  second  brigade,  which  did  not  finish  crossing  until  mid- 
night, passed  them  in  the  early  morning,  and  the  whole  force 
moved  toward  Corydon.72  As  they  advanced  the  skirmishers 
from  the  Home  Guards  fired  on  them,  and  at  a  point  about 
four  miles  south  of  Corydon,  near  the  residence  of  the  Rever- 
end Peter  Glenn  and  his  son  John,  somebody  fired  from  be- 
hind a  fence  and  killed  one  of  the  soldiers.  Neither  of  the 
Glenns  was  armed  or  had  taken  any  part  in  the  fighting. 
But  the  Confederates,  in  revenge,  shot  the  young  man  through 
both  thighs,  and  then  set  fire  to  the  house.  The  father  en- 
tered the  house  to  quench  the  fire  or  to  bring  something  out. 
The  soldiers  ordered  him  to  desist,  and  when  he  refused  they 

69  Indiana  Magazine  of  History.  Vol.  8  (1912),  page  152. 
Official   Records,  Series  1,  Vol.  XXIII,  page  658,  et  seq. 

70  Morgan  and  His  Captors,  page  120. 

Indiana  Magazine  of  History,  Vol.  8  (1912),  page  152. 
Adjt.  Gen.  Terrell's  Report,  Vol.  I,  pages  165,  183. 
73  Morgan's  Cavalry,  page  434. 
72  Morgan's  Cavalry,  page  435. 


160  Morgan's  Raid  in   Indiana 

shot  him  through  the  breast  and  killed  him.™  According  to 
General  Duke  this  was  the  only  private  dwelling  burned  in  the 
entire  raid  ;74  but  William  Heth,  an  old  man  who  kept  the 
toll  gate  near  Corydon,  was  also  shot  to  death  in  his  house,75 
and  according  to  a  report  which  reached  New  Albany  that 
night,  the  house  was  burned.76 

As  they  came  near  Corydon,  fourteen  miles  inland,  Mor- 
gan's advance  guard  found  a  body  of  militia  posted  behind 
rail  barricades.  A  charge  was  beaten  back,  but,  the  artillery 
having  come  up  and  opened  lire  and  demonstrations  having 
been  made  upon  their  flanks,  the  defenders  of  the  barricade 
fled  before  a  second  charge,  with  the  loss  of  three  killed  and 
two  wounded.77  Another  Home  Guard  fell  dead  from  his 
horse,  without  the  slightest  appearance  of  a  wound,  just  as 
the  retreat  began.78  The  Confederate  loss  was  eight  killed, 
including  General  Morgan's  acting  adjutant,  and  thirty-three 
wounded.70  Of  these,  a  lieutenant,  a  surgeon  and  six  enlisted 
men  who  were  left  at  Corydon  because  they  were  too  badly 
injured  to  ride  were  placed  under  arrest  by  the  provost  mar- 
shal and  sent  to  the  military  prison  at  Louisville.80  Two  oth- 
ers  of  the  wounded  men  died  at  Corydon   after  their  com- 

73  New  Albany  Daily  Ledger,  July  10,  13.  1863. 
Morgan  and  His  Captors,  page  120. 

Smith's  History  of  Indiana,  page  375. 

74  Morgan's  Cavalry,  page  430. 

"•"»  Morgan  and  His  Captors,  pages  123,  124. 

76  xew  Albany  Daily  Ledger,  July  10,  1863. 

77  Ad.it.  Gen.  Terrell's  Report.  Vol.  I,  pages  121,  122,  123. 
Morgan  and  His  Captors,  pages  121,  122,  123. 

7*  Morgan  and  His  Captors,  page  130. 

70  Morgan  and  His  Captors,  page  124. 

so  New  Albany  Daily  Ledger.  July  13,  1863. 


Morgan's  Raid  in   Indiana  161 

panions   had   ridden   away.81     Three   hundred   of   the   Home 
Guards  surrendered  and  were  immediately  paroled.82 

The  editor  of  the  Corydon  Democrat,  who  was  also  a  state 
senator,  and  the  county  auditor,  who  met  the  invaders  to 
intercede  for  the  town,  were  required  to  ride  into  Corydon  at 
the  head  of  the  Confederate  column,  between  two  soldiers, 
their  captors  declaring  that  if  they  were  shot  at  these  two 
gentlemen  should  be  killed.83  The  resistance  offered  by  the 
Home  Guards  of  Harrison  county  had  so  delayed  the  march 
of  the  invaders  that  after  the  advance  guard  had  been  twen- 
ty-four hours  in  Indiana  and  the  rear  guard  more  than  half 
as  long  they  had  only  advanced  fourteen  miles,  while  they 
rode  forty  miles  in  the  next  twenty-four  hours,84  and  ad- 
vanced that  far  or  farther  each  of  the  next  three  days  they 
were  in  Indiana.  The  Confederates  reached  Corydon  about 
six  o'clock  Thursday  evening  and  General  Morgan  went  at 
once  to  the  hotel  and  to  sleep.85  Passing  through  Corydon 
they  pushed  on  eight  or  ten  miles,  through  Salisbury,  until 
near  Palmyra,  when  they  went  into  camp,86  but  were  on  the 
move  again  after  two  or  three  hours.87  While  they  were 
encamped  here  the  last  of  their  pursuers  reached  the  Indiana 
side,  twenty-five  miles  away  to  the  south,  at  about  two  o'clock 
in  the  morning.  On  the  way  up  from  Corydon  one  citizen 
who  tried  to  run  away  upon  meeting  the  soldiers  was  shot  and 
painfully  wounded.88  By  this  (time  the  Confederates  had 
collected    more   than   five   hundred   horses,   having   displayed 

81  Morgan  and  His  Captors,  page  130. 

Adjt.  Gen.  Terrell's  Report    Vol.  I.  pages  165.  184. 

82  Morgan  and  His  Captors,  page  124. 
S3  Morgan  and  His  Captors,  page  127. 

84  Morgan  and  His  Captors,  page  119. 

85  Morgan  and  His  Captors,  page  124. 

Adjt.  Gen.  Terrell's  Report.  Vol.  I,  pages  165.  182. 

86  Morgan's  Cavalry,   page  135. 

87  Morgan  and  His  Captors,  page  135. 

88  Morgan  and  His  Captors,  page  135. 


162  Morgan's  Raid  in   Indiana 

remarkable  ingenuity  in  searching  out  the  places  where  horses 
were  hidden,  and  taking  all  they  could  find,  with  strict  impar- 
tiality, from  avowed  enemies  and  professed  sympathizers. 

On  Friday  morning,  July  10,  the  troops  moved  in  two 
columns,  one  advancing  north  through  Palmyra,  and  the  other 
through  Greenville,  five  or  six  miles  further  east.  At  about 
the  same  hour,  the  Union  troops  took  up  their  march  toward 
Corydon.  A  party  of  three  hundred  and  fifty  Home  Guards 
who  had  collected  at  Palmyra,  retreated  toward  Salem.89 

A  dozen  outriders  in  advance  of  the  invading  army  came 
upon  a  small  company  of  Home  Guards  as  they  approached 
Salem,  and  dashed  in  among  them.  They  fled,  and  the  rebel 
advance  guard  coming  up  they  were  pursued  into  town,  where 
a  large  company  of  Home  Guards,  with  a  swivel  cannon  about 
eighteen  inches  long,  that  had  been  used  to  celebrate  holidays, 
were  stationed  in  the  public  square.  They  were  dispersed, 
and,  the  gunner  having  dropped  the  coal  of  fire  with  which  he 
was  about  to  touch  off  the  cannon,  it  was  captured  before  he 
could  get  another.90  A  hundred  or  more  of  the  Home  Guards 
were  taken  prisoners,  but  were  paroled.91 

And  it  may  be  remarked,  in  passing,  that  all  of  the  Home 
Guards  captured  throughout  the  raid  were  paroled,  or  were 
released  after  being  compelled  to  accompany  the  invading 
force  for  a  few  miles.  At  eight  o'clock  in  the  morning  the 
telegraph  operator  at  Salem  sent  a  message  to  New  Albany 
stating  that  Morgan's  men  were  in  town  and  he  would  be  off 
to  safer  quarters,  adding  that  "Morgan  is  moving  in  two  col- 
umns on  parallel  roads."  The  operator  carried  away  his  in- 
struments and  saved  them  from  falling  into  the  enemy's 
hands.92 

89  Indiana  Magazine  of  History,  Vol.  8  (1012),  page  155. 

90  Morgan's  Cavalry,  pages  435,  436. 

91  Morgan  and  His  Captors,  page  136. 
Madison  Courier,  July  11,  1863. 

92  New  Albany  Daily  Ledger,  July  10,  1863. 


Morgan's  Raid  in   Indiana  163 

The  rebels  rode  into  Salem  about  nine  o'clock,93  at  the 
same  time  that  Hobson's  men  were  nearing  Corydon,  twenty- 
five  miles  away.94.  Bodies  of  Confederate  troops  were  re- 
ported east  of  Greenville,  fifteen  miles  northwest  of  New 
Albany  at  eight  o'clock,  and  some  of  the  scouts  burned  the 
railroad  bridge  at  Farrabee  Station,  fifteen  miles  further 
north,  at  ten  o'clock.95  A  short  halt  was  made  in  Salem  to 
feed  the  men  and  horses.96  Four  or  five  bridges  were  burned, 
including  the  railroad  bridges,97  and  also  a  water  tank  and 
the  depot.98  At  Corydon  Morgan  had  demanded  $1,000  each 
from  the  owners  of  the  three  flouring  mills,  under  penalty 
of  having  the  mills  burned  if  the  money  was  refused,  but 
finally  commuted  the  demand  for  $2,100  in  greenbacks,99  and 
he  also  took  $750  from  the  county  treasurer.1  A  stonemill 
was  burned  which  presumably  was  not  ransomed.2  One 
store  was  plundered  of  a  stock  of  clothing,  hats,  and  boots 
and  shoes  said  to  be  worth  $3,500,  for  which  the  rebels  pre- 
tended to  pay  with  $140  in  Confederate  script.  And  some 
others  lost  parts  of  their  stock.  But  a  number  of  the  stores 
in  Corydon  were  not  molested.3 

The  invaders  took  advantage  of  the  stop  at  Salem,  how- 
ever, to  do  a  more  thorough  job  of  plundering  the  town  than 
had  before  been  done.     A  thousand  dollars  was  exacted  from 

93  Morgan  and  His  Captors,  page  135. 

94  Adjt.  Gen.  Terrell's  Report,  Vol.  I,  pages  165,  186. 

95  New  Albany  Daily  Ledger,  July  10,  1863. 

96  Morgan's  Cavalry,  page  437. 

97  Morgan's  Cavalry,  page  436. 
Morgan  and  His  Captors,  page  136. 

98  New  Albany  Daily  Ledger,  July  11,  1863. 

99  Morgan  and  His  Captors,  page  125. 
New  Albany  Daily  Ledger,  July  13,  1863. 
Adjt.  Gen.  Terrell's  Report,  Vol.  I,  page  183. 
i  Morgan  and  His  Captors,  page  125. 

2  New  Albany  Daily  Ledger,  July  10,  1863. 

3  Morgan  and  His  Captors,  pages  124,  125. 


164  Morgan's  Raid  in   Indiana 

the  owner  of  each  mill.  And  it  was  reported  that  having 
counted  the  roll  of  bills  offered  by  one  of  the  millers  in  pay: 
ment  of  the  blackmail,  and  found  that  it  contained  $1,200, 
Morgan  gave  back  $200,  saying,  "Do  you  think  I  would  rob 
you  of  a  cent?"4  The  banks  had  been  warned  and  had  sent 
their  money  out  of  town.  But  the  clothing  stores  were  brok- 
en open,  and  the  men  helped  themselves  to  new  clothes, 
throwing  away  their  old  ones.  The  dry  goods  stores,  liquor 
stores  and  saddle  shops  were  also  plundered.  "The  ragamuf- 
fins were  particularly  delighted  with  the  style  of  Salem  cloth- 
ing and  the  quality  of  Salem  whiskey."5  They  left  Salem  at 
two  o'clock.6 

One  column  marched  directly  east,  through  Canton,  New 
Philadelphia  and  Centerville,  and  crossed  the  Jeffersonville 
and  Indianapolis  railroad  at  Vienna,  three  or  four  miles  south 
of  where  Scottsburg  is  now  located.7  The  other  column  rode 
southeast  through  Harristown  and  crossed  the  railroad  at 
Memphis,  twelve  miles  south  of  Vienna,  and  at  Henryville, 
between  there  and  Vienna.8  At  Vienna  the  telegraph  sta- 
tion and  the  operator  were  captured,  before  the  operator  could 
give  an  alarm,  and  General  Morgan  put  one  of  his  own  men 
in  charge  of  the  office,  who  listened  on  the  wires  until  he  had 
learned  all  the  news  to  be  obtained  from  Louisville  and  In- 
dianapolis, including  the  fact  that  orders  had  been  issued  to 
the  militia  to  fell  timber  and  blockade  all  the  roads  the  in- 
vaders would  be  likely  to  travel.9 

4  Morgan  and  His  Captors,  pages  136. 

•r>  New  Albany  Daily  Ledger,  July  11.  1863. 

6  Morgan's  Cavalry,  page  437. 

7  Madison  Courier,  July  11,  12,  1863. 

New  Albany  Daily  Ledger,  July  10,  13,  1863. 
Indianapolis  Journal,  July  11,   1863. 
Morgan  and  His  Captors,  page  139. 

8  New  Albany  Daily  Ledger,  July  10,  1863. 

9  Morgan's  Cavalry,  page  437. 


Morgan's  Raid  in   Indiana  165 

At  this  time  the  Confederates  doubtless  also  learned  that 
a  Union  force  had  crossed  the  river  and  was  following  only 
a  few  miles  behind  them.  This  was  about  eleven  o'clock  on 
the  evening  of  Friday,  July  10,10  about  six  hours  after  Mor- 
gan's advance  had  been  reported  to  be  at  Canton,  fifteen 
miles  away,11  and  his  rear  guard  passed  through  Vienna  at 
eight  o'clock  the  next  morning,  having  camped  in  the  mean- 
time.12 At  noon  that  day  the  Union  troops  were  reported 
only  sixteen  miles  behind,13  and  their  advance  reached  Vienna 
at  half  past  three  the  next  afternoon,  seven  hours  behind  the 
rear  guard  of  the  Confederates.14 

Morgan  sent  out  scouts  and  small  parties  seeking  for 
horses  on  all  the  diverging  roads,  and  the  fleeing  inhabitants 
carried  the  word  that  his  troops  were  advancing  in  as  many 
directions  and  toward  as  many  places  as  his  scouts  rode.15 
While  his  army  was  turning  east  from  Salem,  the  word 
came  to  Madison  that  they  had  been  at  Paoli,  twenty-five  miles 
west,  and  at  Brownstown,  as  many  miles  north  of  there.16 
And  when  they  were  turning  north  from  Lexington  toward 
Paris  and  Vernon  on  Saturday,  they  were  reported  within  a 
mile  and  a  half  of  Kent,  and  then  word  came  that  they  had 
turned  south,  and  also  that  they  had  turned  North.17 
At   both   Memphis   and   Vienna    the     railroad    depots    were 

10  New  Albany  Daily  Ledger,  July  13,  1863. 

But  see  Morgan's  Cavalry,  page  437. 

ii  Official  Records,  Series  1,  Vol.  XXIII,  page  718. 

12  New  Albany  Daily  Ledger,  July  11,  13,  1863. 

is  Madison  Courier,  July  11,  1863. 

Indianapolis  Journal,  July  11,  1863. 

14  Official  Records,  Series  1,  Vol.  XXIII,  page  727. 

15  Adjt.  Gen.  Terrell's  Report,  Vol.  1,  pages  165,  190,  191. 
Foulke's  Life  of  Morton,  page  281. 

16  Madison  Courier,  July  11,  1863. 

Adjt.  Gen.  Terrell's  Report,  Vol.  I,  pages  165,  190,  191. 

17  Madison  Courier,  July  11,  1863. 


166  Morgan's  Raid  in  Indiana 

burned,  the  tracks  torn  up  and  the  telegraph  wires  cut, 
and  at  Vienna  they  also  burned  the  water  station,  the  turn- 
table, and  a  railroad  bridge  near  the  town.  It  should  be  re- 
membered that  at  that  time  all  the  railroad  bridges  were 
built  entirely  of  wood,  iron  bridges  being  a  later  development. 
The  raiders  also  "robbed  all  the  stores  in  town  and  sacked 
private  houses."18 

Except  for  the  affronts  that  were  necessarily  incident  to 
ripping  open  the  bedding,  tearing  up  carpets,  opening  clocks 
and  throwing  down  mirrors  and  other  articles  of  furniture  in 
a  search  for  hidden  money,  and  taking  whatever  they  coveted, 
the  men  were  respectful  to  the  women  along  the  way,  and  no 
violence  was  offered  to  any  of  them.19  But  they  took  food 
for  themselves  and  forage  for  their  horses  wherever  they 
found  it.  And  their  looting  was  thus  described  by  General 
Duke,  Morgan's  second  in  command:  "The  disposition  for 
wholesale  plunder  exceeded  anything  that  any  of  us  had  ever 
seen  before.  .  .'  .  Calico  was  a  staple  article  of  appropriation 
— each  man  (who  could  get  one)  tied  a  bolt  of  it  to  his  sad- 
dle, only  to  throw  it  away  and  get  a  fresh  one  at  the  first 
opportunity.  They  did  not  pillage  with  any  sort  of  method 
or  reason.  One  man  carried  a  bird  cage  with  three  canaries 
in  it,  for  two  days.  Another  rode  with  a  chafing  dish,  which 
looked  like  a  small  metallic  coffin,  on  the  pummel  of  his  sad- 
dle, until  an  officer  forced  him  to  throw  it  away.  Although 
the  weather  was  intensely  warm,  another  slung  seven  pairs 
of  skates  around  his  neck.  .  .  .  Passing  through  Dupont  a 
new  feature  in  the  practice  of  appropriation  was  developed. 
A  large  meat  packing  establishment  was  in  this  town,  and 
each  man  had  a  ham  slung  at  his  saddle."20     In  addition  to 

is  New  Albany  Daily  Ledger,  July  11,  1863. 

19  Morgan  and  His  Captors,  page  141. 

20  Morgan's  Cavalry,  pages  436,  437,  438. 


Morgan's  Raid  in   Indiana  167 

taking  two  thousand  canvased  hams  from  his  pork  house 
at  Dupont,  the  owner's  store  was  also  broken  open  and  robbed 
of  clothing,  boots  and  shoes,  to  the  value  of  $1,600  or  more.21 
All  blacksmith  tools  and  other  articles  which  could  be  of  ser- 
vice to  a  pursuing  force,  if  not  carried  away,  were  de- 
stroyed.22 

Passing  through  Vienna  and  Memphis,  both  columns  of  the 
Confederate  army  marched  to  Lexington,  six  miles  east  of 
Vienna  on  the  railroad  leading  from  Jeffersonville  through 
North  Vernon  to  Greensburg.23  The  advance  guard  arrived 
at  about  eleven  o'clock,  and  went  into  camp.24  No  organized 
resistance  had  been  met  on  the  second  day  of  their  advance 
into  Indiana.  But  they  shot  five  men  that  day,  at  different 
points  along  the  way,  all  of  them,  it  would  seem,  for  attempt- 
ing to  run  away  when  commanded  to  halt,  upon  suddenly 
meeting  the  invaders.25  And  similar  outrages  were  commit- 
ted on  the  rest  of  their  march.  The  rear  guard  encamped 
at  Vienna,  and  moved  toward  Lexington  in  the  early  morn- 
ing,26 reaching  there  about  eight  o'clock.27  Lexington  was 
then  the  county  seat  of  Scott  county.  By  cutting  the  rail- 
road and  telegraph  lines  at  this  point  Louisville  was  cut  off 
from  communication  toward  the  north,  the  other  two  lines 
having  been  already  destroyed,  and  a  raiding  party  having 
ridden  around  the  city  on  the  south  and  cut  the  telegraph 
wires  in  Kentucky.  This  was  a  party  of  120  men  which 
had  left   Morgan's  command  fifty  miles  south  of  the  Ohio 

2i  Morgan  and  His  Captors,  page  140. 

22  New  Albany  Daily  Ledger,  July  11,  1863. 

23  New  Albany  Daily  Ledger,  July  11,  1863. 

24  New  Albany  Daily  Ledger,  July  11,  1863. 
Morgan's  Cavalry,  page  435. 

25  Morgan  and  His  Captors,  page  135. 

26  Madison  Courier,  July  14,  1863. 

27  New  Albany  Daily  Ledger,  July  11,  1863. 


168  Morgan's  Raid  in   Indiana 

river,  with  directions  to  cross  the  river  at  Twelve  Mile  Is- 
land and  rejoin  the  division  at  Salem,28  and  so  well  had  they 
done  their  work  that  for  two  days  New  Albany  and  Louis- 
ville were  almost  entirely  isolated.29  At  Lexington  the  Con- 
federate troops  were  within  ten  miles  of  the  Ohio  river  di- 
rectly east  of  them,  and  within  fifteen  miles  of  the  crossing  at 
Grassy  Flats,  near  Twelve  Mile  Island,  where  there  was  a 
ford.30 

And  at  about  three  o'clock  that  afternoon  the  company 
which  had  been  detached  for  a  raid  south  of  Louisville31 
attempted  to  cross  the  river  into  Indiana  at  the  Grassy  Flats,32 
but  were  intercepted  by  some  armed  steamboats  sent  up  the 
river,  and  twenty  men  were  captured  on  Twelve  Mile  Island 
one  of  whom  was  a  captain,  together  with  forty-five  horses.33 
Part  of  the  rebels  succeeded  in  crossing  into  Indiana,  but  not 
in  rejoining  General  Morgan.  Forty-seven  of  them  had  a 
skirmish  the  next  night  with  the  Third  Indiana  Cavalry, 
when  three  were  wounded  and  nineteen  taken  prisoners.34 
And  on  Saturday  afternoon  in  a  skirmish  with  what  was  be- 
lieved to  be  the  remnant  of  the  same  company,  near  Pekin, 
between  Salem  and  New  Albany,  one  was  killed,  five  wound- 
ed, and  twenty  taken  prisoners,35  among  them  being  Adjutant 
General  Davis  of  Duke's  brigade.36 

28  Morgan's  Cavalry,  page  428. 

New  Albany  Daily  Ledger,  July  11,  1863. 

29  New  Albany  Daily  Ledger,  July  13,  1863. 

30  Indianapolis  Journal,  July  14,  1863. 
3i  Morgan's  Cavalry,  page  428. 

32  New  Albany  Daily  Ledger,  July  11,  13,  1863. 

33  Official  Record,  Series  1,  Vol.  XXIII,  pages  725,  729,  741,  745. 
Madison  Courier,  July  14,  1863. 

New  Albany  Daily  Ledger,  July  12,  1863. 

34  Official  Records,  Series  1,  Vol.  XXIII,  page  733. 
Madison  Courier,  July  14,  1863. 

35  Official  Records,   Series  1.  Vol.  XXIII,  page  741. 

36  New  Albany  Daily  Ledger,  July  13,  1863. 


Morgan's  Raid  in   Indiana  169 

At  Lexington  General  Morgan  slept  in  the  town  with  a 
small  escort,  and  during  the  night  a  party  of  Federal  cavalry 
entered  the  town  and  advanced  as  far  as  the  house  where  he 
was  sleeping/57  and  in  departing  three  of  them  fell  into  the 
hands  of  the  rebels.38  Morgan's  men  moved  north  early 
Saturday  morning,  along  the  railroad  through  Paris  toward 
Vernon,  a  detachment  being  sent  in  the  direction  of  Madison 
to  hold  there  any  troops  who  might  prove  troublesome  if  they 
came  out.39  As  they  approached  the  river  bridge  south  of 
Vernon  in  the  afternoon  they  found  a  party  of  Home  Guards 
drawn  up  across  the  road,  who  refused  a  summons  to  sur- 
render. The  officer  commanding  asked  for  time  to  remove 
the  noncombatants,  which  was  granted,40  and  General  Mor- 
gan hurried  away  on  the  road  to  Dupont,  while  the  Home 
Guards  were  preparing  for  battle.  His  skirmishers  burned 
a  bridge  or  two,  and  kept  up  a  show  of  attacking  until  the 
main  body  of  the  troops  were  far  away  to  the  east.41  Union 
scouts  who  followed  the  skirmishers  captured  nineteen  strag- 
glers.42 The  railroad  tracks  were  torn  up  and  the  telegraph 
wires  cut  south  of  Vernon,  and  a  scouting  party  of  the  rebels 
penetrated  to  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  railroad  tracks  west 
of  North  Vernon  ,and  destroyed  part  of  them.43 

Darkness  came  on  while  the  defenders  of  Vernon  were 
awaiting  an  attack.  Suddenly  a  great  noise  was  heard  of 
something  splashing  across  the  stream  from  the   south  and 

3'  Morgan's    Cavalry,    page   437. 

Adjt.  Gen.  Terrell's  Report,  Vol.  I,  pages  165,  187. 

38  Madison  Courier,  July  11,  1863. 

39  Morgan's  Cavalry,  pages  437,  438. 

Official  Records,  Series,  1,  Vol.  XXIII,  page  733. 

40  Official  Records,  Series  1,  Vol.  XXIII,  page  733. 
New  Albany  Daily  Ledger,  July  13,  1863. 

History  of  Dearborn  and  Ohio  Counties  (Ind.),  page  221. 
4i  Morgan's  Cavalry,  page  438. 

42  New  Albany  Daily  Ledger,  July  13,  1863. 

43  New  Albany  Daily  Ledger,  July  13,  1863. 


170  Morgan's  Raid  in   Indiana 

rushing  up  the  north  bank,  directly  toward  where  a  company 
of  the  militia  had  been  stationed  to  guard  a  ford.  The  creek 
made  a  sharp  turn  at  this  point,  and  the  top  of  a  bank  fifteen 
or  twenty  feet  high  was  almost  directly  behind  the  guards. 
In  the  darkness  and  confusion  a  number  of  the  defenders 
went  over  this  bank  and  fell  to  the  bottom,  some  of  them 
being  severely  injured.  The  noise  of  the  supposed  attack 
was  made  by  a  large  number  of  horses  and  cattle  that  had 
been  collected  south  of  the  little  river  and  were  being  driven 
across  to  the  north  side  to  avoid  being  stolen  by  the  rebels.44 
The  invading  army  was  already  miles  away.  But  the  list  of 
the  injured  at  the  "Battle  of  Finney's  ford,"  as  it  was  called, 
was  greater  than  at  any  encounter  of  the  militia  with  Mor- 
gan's men  in  Indiana,  after  his  first  day  in  the  State. 

The  detachment  which  had  marched  toward  Madison  re- 
joined the  main  army  near  Vernon,  after  it  had  turned  east 
toward  Dupont.45  The  Confederates  camped  just  outside  of 
Dupont  at  midnight,  and  moved  the  next  morning  at  three 
o'clock,  passing  through  Dupont  a  little  after  daylight.46  But 
when  the  troops  went  into  camp  many  of  the  officers  sought 
entertainment  in  the  village.  General  Morgan  and  his  staff 
went  to  the  home  of  Mr.  Thomas  Stout,  and  compelled  him  and 
his  family  to  vacate  the  beds  in  which  they  were  sleeping. 
Then,  commanding  the  wife  and  daughters  to  have  breakfast 
ready  at  four  o'clock,  and  Mr.  Stout  to  call  them  at  that  hour, 
the  officers  took  possession  of  the  beds  and  slept  three  or 
four  hours.  Partly  by  force  and  partly  by  promises  of  a 
liberal  reward,  Mr.  Stout  was  induced  to  act  as  guide  on  their 
way  eastward.     Without  allowing  him  time  to  eat  any  break- 

44  History,  of  Dearborn  and  Ohio  Counties  (Ind.),  page  221. 
4-r>  Morgan's  Cavalry,  page  438. 
Morgan  and  His  Captors,  page  140. 
46  Morgan's  Cavalry,  page  438. 


Morgan's   Raid  in   Indiana  171 

fast  after  the  officers  had  finished,  he  was  put  on  a  sharp 
backed  horse,  without  a  saddle  and  required  to  ride  at  a  long 
trot  for  twelve  miles  until  his  knowledge  of  the  roads  was 
exhausted,  when  he  was  set  on  foot  without  any  of  the  prom- 
ised greenbacks  to  find  his  way  home  as  he  might.47  Many 
of  the  Confederate  officers  breakfasted  with  the  citizens  of 
Dupont,4S  and  some  of  them  paid  or  offered  to  pay  for  their 
entertainment.49  It  was  reported  that  they  were  two  hours 
passing  through  Dupont,  riding  four  abreast.50 

The  Home  Guards  had  begun  to  retard  the  progress  of 
the  invaders  by  felling  trees  and  bush-whacking.51  But  this 
was  their  first  experience  at  fighting.  They  had  not  had  the 
training  which  two  years  among  the  swarming  bands  of  guer- 
rillas had  given  their  neighbors  on  the  other  side  of  the  river. 

They  were  so  numerous,  however,  that  General  Basil 
Duke  expressed  the  opinion  that  if  they  had  come  upon  the 
Confederates  as  the  fierce  Kentucky  Home  Guards  would 
have  done  when  collected  in  such  numbers,  instead  of  waiting 
to  be  attacked  while  the  enemy  maneuvered  around  them,  the 
Confederates  could  not  have  forced  their  way  through.52 

The  Union  troops  were  now  close  behind,  having  camped 
at  Lexington  the  night  before,  at  the  same  place  where  Mar- 
gan's  men  had  camped  the  previous  night,  and  gained  sev- 
eral miles  by  going  to  Dupont  in  a  more  direct  route,  without 
passing  Vernon.  The  Confederate  rear  guard  left  Dupont 
at  eight  o'clock  Sunday  morning,  and  General  Hobson's  ad- 

47  Morgan  and  His  Captors,  pages  141,  142. 
Cincinnati  Commercial,  July  19,  1863. 

48  Morgan's  Cavalry,  page  438. 

49  Morgan  and  His  Captors,  page  143. 

50  Indianapolis  Journal,  July  14.  1863. 
New  Albany  Daily  Ledger,  July  14.  1863. 

51  Madison  Cornier.  July  11,  18G3. 

52  Morgan's  Cavalry,  page  439. 


172  Morgan's  Raid  in   Indiana 

vance  guard  arrived  at  one  o'clock.53  The  Confederates  were 
spending  twenty-one  hours  a  day  in  the  saddle.  But  the 
pace  was  telling  on  them,  and  there  was  much  straggling. 
At  Dupont  thirty  stragglers  were  captured  by  a  band  of  mili- 
tiamen said  to  number  only  twenty.54 

The  Union  troops,  compelled  to  depend  for  remounts  on 
the  horses  which  the  enemy  had  abandoned,  supplemented  by 
the  few  that  they  had  overlooked,  were  riding  as  hard  to 
overtake  them.  From  Dupont  to  Versailles,  a  distance  of 
twenty-five  miles,  the  route  lay  through  a  country  not  reached 
by  railroads  or  telegraph  lines,  and  no  report  of  the  move- 
ments of  pursuers  or  pursued  reached  the  outside  world. 
Nearly  everybody  believed  the  Confederates  would  attempt 
to  cross  into  Kentucky  at  Aurora  or  Lawrenceburg,  and  not 
pass  near  Versailles.55  When  Morgan's  advance  guard 
reached  Versailles,  they  dashed  into  the  town  where  several 
hundred  Home  Guards  were  devising  means  of  defend- 
ing the  place  and  broke  up  the  council.56  A  young  farmer, 
of  the  neighborhood,  mounted  on  a  fleet  horse,  started  down 
the  road  at  breakneck  speed  through  Dillsboro,  toward  Auro- 
ra, shouting  to  everybody  that  Morgan  was  coming.  He 
reached  Aurora,  twenty  miles  away,  in  less  than  two  hours, 
and  saved  his  horse  from  capture.57  But  none  of  the  rebels 
followed  after  him,  except  to  collect  all  the  horses  for  sev- 
eral miles  in  that  direction.  They  robbed  the  county  treas- 
urer at  Versailles  of  $5,000  of  public  funds,58  and  captured 
a  large  number  of  horses,  rather  better  stock  than  they  had 

53  Morgan  and  His  Captors,  pages  140,  142. 
Morgan's  Cavalry,  page  138. 

54  Smith's  History  of  Indiana,  pages  378. 

55  Adjt.  Gen.  Terrell's  Report,  Vol.  I,  pages  165,  190,  191. 
50  Morgan's  Cavalry,  page  439. 

57  Versailles  Republican.  June  4,  1913. 

58  Adjt.  Gen.  Terrell's  Report.  Vol.  I,  pages  165,  190. 


Morgan's  Raid  in   Indiana  173 

before  obtained  in  Indiana,  according  to  General  Duke.59 
The  acts  of  this  young  man  and  of  other  horsemen  who 
dashed  ahead  to  give  the  alarm  whenever  any  of  the  invaders 
were  seen  on  any  road,  led  to  reports  being  sent  out  that  Mor- 
gan's main  force  was  at  Cross  Plains60  and  at  Dillsboro,61  on 
the  way  to  Aurora,  and  even  that  they  had  reached  Aurora.02 
But  the  fact  that  my  father,  with  his  squad,  picketed  the  road 
leading  into  Aurora  that  night  and  the  next  day,  and  that 
every  man  that  my  infancy  knew  who  had  not  enlisted  in  the 
army,  and  many  who  had,  were  under  arms  to  repel  Morgan, 
and  that  my  childhood  was  nourished  on  traditions  of  this 
raid,  enable  me  to  say  positively  that  the  main  body  of  the 
invaders  was  not  within  a  dozen  miles  of  Aurora  or  Law- 
renceburg.  Detachments  seeking  horses  probably  visited  both 
of  them,63  and  all  other  places  within  many  miles  of  the  line 
of  march  on  either  side,  pretending  to  be  Home  Guards  or 
Union  troops  in  pursuit  of  Morgan  when  they  were  stopped 
and  questioned.  They  were  not  in  uniform,  but  most  of  them 
were  wearing  clothes  from  the  stores  which  they  had  pil- 
laged, and  riding  horses  which  they  had  taken  from  Indiana 
farmers,  not  different  from  the  clothes  worn  and  the  horses 
ridden  by  the  Home  Guards  with  which  the  country  was 
swarming.  I  know  from  traditions  that  horses  were  stolen 
on  the  road  leading  along  the  river  south  of  Aurora,  and  that 
at  least  two  of  Morgan's  men  were  arrested  when  riding 
into  Aurora,  were  taken  before  the  commanding  officer  and 
by  him  released,  as  being  Home  Guards,  and  were  re-arrested 
when  riding  north  out  of  Aurora  toward  Sunman,  and  were 

r>'*  Morgan's  Cavalry,   page  439. 
60  Madison  Courier,  July  13,  1863. 
6i  Indianapolis  Journal,  July  13,  1863. 

62  Adjt.  Gen.  Terrell's  Report,  Vol.  I,  pages  165,  190,  191. 
Foulke's  Life  of  Morton,  page  281. 

63  Indianapolis  Journal,  July  14,  1863. 


174  Morgan's  Raid  in   Indiana 

sent  to  the  military  prison.  The  people  of  Aurora  believed 
that  Morgan  and  his  men  were  coming,  and  the  women  and 
children  and  old  men  spent  Saturday  night  in  the  woods  on 
the  hill  overlooking  the  town.  While  parties  of  scouts  were 
stationed  along  the  roads  toward  the  west  and  south,  mounted 
on  fleet  horses,  with  instructions  to  bring  the  word  as  fast 
as  a  horse  could  gallop  when  the  invaders  came  in  sight,  and 
bodies  of  Home  Guards  and  soldiers  were  held  at  Aurora, 
and  at  Lawrenceburg,  three  miles  away,  ready  to  march  out 
and  meet  Morgan  on  whichever  road  he  might  appear.  The 
Ohio  river  had  by  this  time  risen  more  than  six  feet,  so  that 
it  could  not  be  forded  at  any  place  above  the  Grassy  Flats, 
and  as  it  was  not  believed  possible  that  Morgan  could  get  past 
Cincinnati,  nobody  doubted  that  he  would  attempt  to  cross 
into  Kentucky  at  either  Aurora  or  Lawrenceburg.  Mean- 
while he  and  his  men  were  riding  steadily  northeast,  nearly 
parallel  with  the  general  course  of  the  river.  The  column 
which  passed  through  Versailles  reached  there  about  one 
o'clock  Sunday  afternoon,  and  the  rear  guard  left  the  town 
at  four  o'clock.64 

A  squad  of  sixty  men  moved  on  Osgood,  five  or  six  miles 
north  of  Versailles,  and  burned  the  bridge  over  Laughery 
creek  on  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  railroad,  and  took  the 
telegraph  operator  prisoner.  They  and  perhaps  some  others 
then  passed  north  along  the  Michigan  road  to  Napoleon  and 
turned  east  toward  Sunman.  From  Osgood  the  railroad 
turned  sharply  to  the  southeast,  through  Moores  Hill  to  Au- 
rora, and  one  of  the  main  columns  of  the  invaders  marched 

64  New  Albany  Daily  Ledger,  July  13,  1863. 

But  see  Madison  Courier.  July  13.  1863,  which  states  that  Mor- 
gan's men  rode  through  Versailles  four  to  six  deep  and  were  from 
5  to  10  o'clock  in  the  forenoon  in  passing. 


Morgan's  Raid  in   Indiana  175 

through  Moores  Hill,  and  thence  toward  Sunman,  while  oth- 
ers crossed  the  railroad  at  Milan  and  Pierceville.65 

At  one  o'clock  Sunday  afternoon  General  Hobson's 
men  were  reported  only  a  short  distance  behind  Morgan's 
troops,66  and  they  reached  Versailles  on  Sunday  evening, 
only  four  hours  behind  the  Confederates,  having  gained  an 
hour  on  them  since  leaving  Dupont.  That  is,  there  was  an 
interval  of  only  four  hours  between  the  departure  of  the  last 
of  the  Confederates  and  the  arrival  of  the  first  of  their 
pursuers.67  The  Union  troops  halted  to  feed  their  horses 
about  a  mile  west  of  Versailles,68  and  at  some  time  late  that 
night  or  early  Monday  morning  the  main  body  of  the  Con- 
federates also  stopped  in  the  woods  west  of  Sunman.69  They 
were  doubtless  spread  out  over  several  miles,  on  the  different 
roads  along  which  they  were  advancing,  and  one  of  the 
camps  was  reported  to  be  near  Napoleon.  This  camp  was 
visited  by  some  of  the  Home  Guards  from  Morris,70  who 
reported  that  Morgan  had  six  thousand  men  and  four  pieces 
of  artillery.  Sunday  forenoon  a  regiment  of  about  three 
hundred  men  was  sent  down  from  Indianapolis  as  far  as 
Newpoint,  some  fifteen  miles  northwest  of  Sunman.  Here 
they  left  the  train  and  marched  toward  Sunman,  where  they 
met  a  regiment  and  a  smaller  detachment  that  had  come  up 
the  railroad  from  Lawrenceburg.  The  total  number  that 
were  at  Sunman  that  Sunday  evening  and  night  were  not  less 

65  New  Albany  Daily  Ledger,  July  14,  1863. 

66  Madison  Courier,  July  14,  1863. 

67  New  Albany  Daily  Ledger,  July  14,  1863. 
Madison  Courier,  July  13,  1863. 

68  Official  Records,  Series  1,  Vol.  XXIII,  page  659. 

69  Indianapolis  Journal,  July  14,  1863. 
Morgan's  Cavalry,  page  439. 

History  of  Dearborn  and  Ohio  Counties  (Ind.),  page  222. 

70  Indianapolis  Journal,  July  14,  1863. 


176  Morgan's  Raid  in   Indiana 

than  twelve  hundred  Home  Guards,71  and  were  currently 
reported  to  be  as  many  as  twenty-five  hundred.72 

Some  of  Morgan's  advance  scouts  had  an  encounter  with 
these  Home  Guards  in  which  one  man  of  the  Union  force 
was  killed,  and  the  rebels  fled  south  in  the  direction  of  Law- 
renceburg and  Aurora.73  They  were  reported  by  the  Home 
Guards  to  be  a  small  detachment  sent  out  for  the  purpose  of 
destroying  the  railroad.74  Unconscious  of  the  presence  of 
the  main  body  of  the  invaders  a  short  distance  back  in  the 
woods,  and  fearing  that  Morgan's  army  would  march  down 
Manchester  Ridge  and  find  Lawrenceburg  undefended,  the 
militia  at  Sunman  boarded  their  train  at  about  four  o'clock 
in  the  morning,75  and  started  for  Lawrenceburg  by  rail.76 

Moving  an  hour  later  at  about  five  o'clock  on  Monday 
morning,77  in  two  converging  columns,  Morgan's  advance 
crossed  the  Indianapolis  and  Cincinnati  railroad  at  Weisburg, 
sixteen  miles  from  Lawrenceburg,  and  at  VanWeddon's 
Switch,  two  miles  farther  west,  stopping  only  to  tear  up  the 
railroad  tracks  and  cut  the  telegraph  wires,  and  turned  toward 
New  Alsace.78  His  rear  guard,  ten  miles  behind,  having 
burned   two   Ohio    and     Mississippi     railroad     bridges     near 

71  Official  Records,  Series  1,  Vol.  XXIII,  pages  740,  741. 

72  Morgan's  Cavalry,  page  439. 

Ajt  Gen.  Terrell's  Report,  Vol.  1.  page  165,  192. 

73  Official  Records  Series,  1  Vol.  XXIII,  page  741. 
Indianapolis   Journal,    July   13,   1863. 

74  Official  Record,  Series  1,  Vol.  XXIII,  pages  740,  741. 

75  Indianapolis  Journal,  July  14.  1863. 

.  76  Official  Records,  Series  1,  Vol.  XXIII.  page  741. 
New  Albany  Daily  Ledger,  July  13,  1863. 
Indianapolis  Journal,  July  13,  14,  1863. 
Morgan's  Cavalry,  page  439. 

77  Morgan's  Cavalry,  page  439. 

78  Official  Records,  Series  1,  Vol.  XXIII,  page  740,  743. 
History  of  Ohio  and  Dearborn  Counties   (Ind.),  p.  222. 


Morgan's  Raid  in   Indiana  177 

Moores  Hill,  and  the  depot  at  that  place,  left  Moores  Hill 
at  one  o'clock  Monday  morning,79  and  at  about  noon,  on 
Monday,  reached  a  point  east  of  New  Alsace,  in  Big  Tanner's 
creek  and  on  the  Logan  Ridge  beyond,  where  they  stopped  to 
feed  their  horses.  A  small  party  of  the  scouts  rode  south 
from  New  Alsace  along  the  ridge  about  three  miles,  looking 
for  horses,  where  they  shot  and  killed  a  neighbor  of  my 
father's,  John  Sawdon,  in  his  front  door  yard,  without  cause 
or  provocation  so  far  as  those  who  saw  the  act  could  learn. 
The  total  number  of  persons  who  were  thus  killed  by  Mor- 
gan's men  in  their  passage  through  the  State  has  never  been 
compiled,  but  it  was  probably  not  less  than  eighteen  or  twen- 
ty. On  the  next  ridge,  a  mile  away  across  the  creek,  two  of 
my  father's  neighbors  who  resisted  the  scouts  with  shotguns 
and  turned  them  back,  escaped  a  like  fate  by  dropping  their 
guns  and  running  away  through  the  woods. 

The  Confederate  advance  pressed  on  and  reached  Harri- 
son, where  they  crossed  the  White  Water  river,  and  passed 
into  Ohio,  the  advance  guard  arriving  at  about  one  in  the 
afternoon.80  So  close  was  the  pursuit  that  General  Hobson's 
advance  passed  through  New  Alsace  only  two  hours  after 
the  last  of  Morgan's  men  were  gone.  As  they  approached 
Harrison,  the  scouts  riding  in  advance  of  the  Union  army 
were  within  four  miles,  about  one  hour's  ride  on  worn  out 
horses,  of  the  last  of  the  raiders.81  The  first  of  the  Union 
troops  reached  Harrison  about  dark,82  and  this  was  near  the 
middle  of  July,  when  the  sun  did  not  set  until  long  after  seven. 

79  New  Albany  Daily  Ledger,  July  13.  14,  1863. 
Madison  Courier,  July  13,  1863. 

80  Morgan's  Cavalry,  page  439. 

si  Official  Report,   Series  1,  Vol.  XXIII,   page  659. 

Madison  Courier,  July  16,  1863. 

82  Official  Records,  Series  1,  Vol.  XXIII,  page  659. 


178  Morgan's  Raid  in   Indiana 

As  they  rode  down  the  hill  toward  the  river,  west  of  Harrison, 
they  could  see  the  long  line  of  Confederate  cavalry  stretch- 
ing away  toward  the  east  as  they  climbed  the  hill  on  the  other 
side.  But  the  bridge  over  the  White  Water  had  been  burned 
an  hour  before,  and  the  rest  of  Hobson's  command  straggled 
for  miles  in  the  rear,  so  that  it  was  nearly  morning  before 
the  last  of  his  men,  detained  in  getting  the  artillery  over  the 
hills  and  fording  the  river,  at  last  marched  into  Harrison.83 
At  each  place  the  soldiers  passed  there  was  an  interval 
between  the  arrival  of  the  advance  scouts  and  the  departure 
of  the  rear  guard  of  either  army,  which  was  sometimes  sev- 
eral hours  long.  But  the  distance  between  the  front  and  rear 
of  the  Confederate  army  shortened  as  their  pursuers  gained 
on  them,  in  the  race  eastward,  while  Hobson's  advance,  in 
the  eagerness  of  the  pursuit,  fairly  ran  away  from  his  artil- 
lery and  rear  guard,  and  at  the  last  had  left  it  seven  or  eight 
hours,  perhaps  twenty  miles,  behind.  One  company  of  the 
Confederates  stopped  to  feed  their  horses  east  of  New  Alsace 
at  a  farm  where  the  bam  had  just  been  filled  with  newly 
cut  oats,  and  compelled  the  owner  to  carry  out  oats  for  the 
horses  until  he  was  nearly  exhausted,  menacing  him  with  a 
gun  when  he  showed  signs  of  stopping.  Instead  of  sym- 
pathizing with  him,  his  numerous  family  were  delighted  with 
his  treatment.  For  while  he  had  brothers  and  uncles, 
cousins  and  second  cousins,  and  more  distant  relatives  in  the 
Union  army,  he  had  the  reputation  of  being  the  only  southern 
sympathizer  in  the  county  who  bore  his  name.  At  this  place 
also  occurred  one  of  the  many  clashes  between  the  Confed- 
erates and  the  Home  Guards,  which  gave  rise  to  so  many  con- 
tradictory reports  as  to  where  the  rebels  were  and  where 
they  were  going.  Governor  Morton's  proclamation,  four 
days  before,  had  merely  commanded  the  loyal  citizens  to  form 
83  Official  Records,  Series  1,  Vol.  XXIII,  page  659. 


Morgan's  Raid  in   Indiana  179 

themselves  into  companies,  elect  officers,  arm  and  mount 
themselves,  and  hold  themselves  subject  to  further  orders. 
No  provision  had  been  made  for  forming  the  companies 
into  regiments,  except  as  this  might  be  done  by  "  further  or- 
ders." But  it  was  not  to  be  expected  that  a  company  of  fifty 
or  sixty  energetic  men,  organized  in  a  township  where  there 
was  no  military  command,  having  reported  at  the  nearest 
telegraph  office  and  learned  that  the  wires  from  Indianapolis 
had  been  cut,  would  sit  idly  down  and  wait  for  some  one  to 
lead  them  against  an  enemy  that  was  stealing  the  horses  and 
pillaging  the  homes  of  their  neighbors,  and  advancing  toward 
their  own  farms.  Scores  of  these  bands,  left  without  any 
directing  authority,  set  out  on  their  own  account  to  "find 
John  Morgan."  One  of  these  companies  was  commanded  by 
Doctor  Jonathan  Flood,  a  physician  who  also  was  a  Metho- 
dist preacher,  in  charge  of  a  circuit  of  three  country  churches 
in  Dearborn  county,  varying  in  distance  from  three  to  seven 
miles  from  the  route  taken  by  the  rebel  troops.  His  com- 
pany was  made  up  of  members  of  his  several  congregations, 
most  of  them  fathers  of  families,  for  nearly  all  the  young 
men  were  away  in  the  army.  It  had  been  reported  that  Mor- 
gan's troops  were  seen  on  Sunday  night  near  Sunman,  and 
everybody  knew  that  small  parties  bent  on  horse  stealing  were 
often  many  miles  from  his  main  army.  So,  in  default  of 
orders,  Flood  and  his  men  set  out  that  Monday  morning, 
ranging  the  country  north  of  their  homes.  As  they  came 
out  on  top  of  the  ridge,  they  saw  a  picket  guard  of  several 
men  on  the  other  side  of  a  ravine  and  began  shooting  at  them. 
But  shots  fired  by  untrained  men  from  the  backs  of  horses 
not  accustomed  to  stand  under  fire  were  not  very  dangerous, 
especially  when  the  guns  were  only  shotguns  loaded  with 
slugs,  and  the  long,  heavy,  muzzle  loading  rifles,  ordinarily 
used  only  in  the  squirrel  season,  and  for  shooting  hogs  at  the 


180  Morgan's  Raid  in   Indiana 

annual  butchering.  The  pickets  retreated  slowly  through  the 
woods,  over  the  brow  of  the  hill,  as  the  foremost  of  the 
Home  Guards  charged  down  into  the  hollow  and  up  the 
hill  after  them.  As  the  pursuers  came  up  on  level  ground 
they  saw  great  numbers  of  soldiers  on  horseback  stretching 
away  in  each  direction,  hastily  formed  in  line  of  battle  to  meet 
an  attack.  Wheeling  about  they  galloped  madly  away,  be- 
lieving and  telling  everybody  they  met  that  Morgan's  whole 
army  was  after  them.  And  though  frightened  off  the  direct 
road  to  Lawrenceburg  by  an  unfounded  report  that  Confeder- 
ate troops,  had  been  seen  on  that  road,  they  galloped  in  a 
roundabout  course,  eighteen  or  twenty  miles,  and  never 
stopped  until  they  rode  into  Lawrenceburg,  still  firmly  con- 
vinced that  an  army  was  on  their  track.  But  Morgan's  men, 
glad  to  see  them  running  away,  had  hastened  off  toward  the 
east.  Two  or  three  of  the  foremost  Home  Guards,  however, 
had  followed  so  closely  after  the  fleeing  pickets,  that  the 
pickets  turned  on  them  after  giving  the  alarm  and  took  them 
prisoners.  Their  horses  (and  each  was  mounted  on  the 
fleetest  and  best  horse  he  had)  were  taken  from  them,  and 
they  were  compelled  to  accompany  their  captors  on  foot  to 
Harrison,  where  they  were  detained  until  evening,  after  the 
bridge  had  been  burned.  They  were  then  released,  and  having 
waded  the  river  through  water  up  to  their  necks  they  started 
to  climb  the  long  hill  toward  home.  Two  or  three  miles  out 
they  met  a  column  of  horsemen,  in  nondescript  clothes  cov- 
ered with  dust,  who  halted  them  and  demanded  to  know  who 
they  were.  They  answered  that  they  were  farmers  on  the 
way  home  from  town.  But,  believing  these  were  some  more 
of  the  rebels,  one  of  the  men  added  that  they  were  southern 
sympathizers,  which  the  others  did  not  contradict.  The 
questioners  proved  to  be  the  Union  advance  guard,  and  the 
men  again  found  themselves  prisoners,  and  were  compelled 


Morgan's  Raid  tn  Indiana  181 

to  walk  back  to  Harrison  and  wade  across  the  river.  At  Har- 
rison they  were  recognized,  and  were  again  released,  long 
after  dark,  and  permitted  to  wade  the  river  a  third  time,  and 
to  start  on  a  ten  mile  walk  toward  home. 

The  invasion  of  Indiana  was  at  an  end,  but  not  the  blood- 
shed. A  report  that  Morgan  was  at  Harrison  reached  Law- 
renceburg,  with  the  further  report  that  he  had  turned  south 
and  was  advancing  upon  Lawrenceburg  to  capture  it  and 
cross  into  Kentucky.  Two  regiments  of  militia  were  imme- 
diately ordered  to  positions  two  or  three  miles  northeast  of 
the  town,  near  where  Lawrenceburg  Junction  is  now  located. 
A  canal  then  led  up  the  valley  of  the  Miami  river,  along  a 
right  of  way  on  which  the  Indianapolis  and  Cincinnati  rail- 
road was  afterward  built,  and  at  this  point  a  great  bend  in 
the  old  channel  of  the  river  brought  it  nearly  to  the  foot  of 
a  steep  hill  along  which  ran  the  highway  with  the  canal  just 
below  it.  This  narrow  place  in  the  valley  west  of  the  Miami 
river  was  chosen  to  make  a  stand  against  the  expected  in- 
vasion. In  marching  out  to  the  position  assigned  to  it  one 
of  the  regiments  came  to  where  the  road  doubled  sharply 
on  itself  and  climbed  twenty-five  or  thirty  feet  up  the  hill- 
side in  getting  from  a  little  hamlet  called  Hardentown  out 
upon  the  highway  leading  toward  Harrison.  Some  of  the 
men  in  the  rear,  not  knowing  of  this  turn  in  the  road,  and 
doubtless  made  nervous  by  the  darkness  and  fear  of  an  at- 
tack, saw  the  men  at  the  head  of  the  regiment  outlined  against 
the  sky  on  the.  bank  above,  apparently  marching  toward  them, 
and  mistook  them  for  rebels.  A  gun  that  accidently  went  off 
at  the  front  made  those  in  the  rear  sure  they  were  meeting 
the  enemy  and  they  fired.  The  advance,  of  course,  believed  the 
enemy  was  in  front  of  them  and  returned  the  fire.  Five  men 
were  killed  and  nineteen  wounded,  one  so  severely  that  he 
died.     Besides    the    private    soldiers,    the    wounded    included 


182  Morgan's  Raid  in  Indiana 

two  captains,  two  lieutenants  and  three  sergeants,  while  a 
sergeant  was  killed,  and  the  man  who  died  of  his  wounds 
was  also  a  lieutenant.  Nor  did  the  lack  of  military  rank 
in  the  Home  Guards  indicate  that  the  soldiers  were  men  of 
no  distinction.  For  among  the  wounded  who  held  no  mili- 
tary office  was  David  S.  Gooding,  then  a  political  power 
among  the  radicals,  who  had  been  a  state  senator  and  was 
afterwards  a  circuit  judge.  And  men  of  every  rank  and 
station  in  civil  life  were  carrying  muskets  during  the  trying 
days  of  that  week.84 

The  people  along  the  line  of  the  flight  and  pursuit,  who 
had  been  plundered  by  the  invaders,  and  had  then  been  com- 
pelled to  furnish  horses,  food  and  forage  to  their  pursuers, 
waited  several  years  for  compensation  for  their  losses.  At 
length,  in  1867,  under  a  resolution  of  the  General  Assembly, 
a  commission  was  appointed  to  pass  on  the  claims,  amounting 
to  nearly  half  a  million  dollars.  The  State  finally  allowed 
and  paid  claims  amounting  to  $413,599.48,  of  which  more  than 
$85,000  was  paid  for  damage  done  and  property  taken  in 
Washington  county,  including  the  sacking  of  Salem,  and 
$1,661.97  was  for  military  supplies  requisitioned  for  the  State 
and  Federal  troops  in  Marion  county.  In  the  meantime  many 
of  the  losers  had  sold  their  claims  at  a  heavy  discount.  After 
years  of  haggling  the  United  States  government  finally  re- 
imbursed the  State  in  part.85 

Here  our  tale  ends,  for  the  theme  is  exhausted.  Morgan 
fled  with  his  army  several  hundred  miles  through  Ohio, 
checked  and  turned  aside,  and  losing  men  by  capture  and  in 
battle  as  he  went,  and  was  finally  captured  with  the  remnant 

84  Adj.  Gen.  Terrell's  Report,  Vol.  1,  page  165,  195. 
History  of  Dearborn  and  Ohio  Counties,    (Ind.),  page  223. 
Smith's  History  of  Indiana,  page  379. 

85  Smith's  History  of  Indiana,  page  380. 


Morgan's  Raid  in  Indiana  183 

of  his  command,  far  toward  the  north,  hastening  in  the 
direction  of  Pennsylvania.  But  that  all  occurred  outside  of 
our  State.  And  since  that  Monday  night,  on  the  thirteenth 
of  July,  1863,  when  the  last  of  the  Confederates  rode  through 
Harrison  into  Ohio,  there  have  been  no  acts  of  war  by  hostile 
troops  within  the  state  of  Indiana. 


